Usually, when you decide to go long distance to college, you pack your things, hug your parents and siblings goodbye, and plan to see them at Thanksgiving. For my sister and I, our off-to-college experience was a little different. My sister, Cassie, and I are two of triplets and decided that Nazareth was a perfect fit for both of us. Although we didn’t plan on going to the same school, it’s worked out for the past three years. We live in Connecticut, so traveling six hours to Nazareth can seem like a hike, but we never have to take the trip alone and it’s nice to have someone who you already know going to a place most people in our state have never heard of.
When we both chose Nazareth, we decided that it would be interesting to break off and live with different people, having shared a room for 18 years, and doing so has allowed us to create our own overlapping circles of friends, get involved in different things, and have a space in two separate dorms to hang out in. Although we have different majors, mine being psychology and Cassie’s being biochemistry, we have had a number of classes together as we both take French and play in Naz’s Campus Band. We often catch up during busy weeks at the dining hall or take a short ride into the city to study at a coffee shop. We both go to church together on campus during the weekend and we volunteer on the same community service trips, like going to St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. Even though we both live very different lives at Naz, we are still able to have family time together.
Going to the same school makes it easy for our family to visit, and moving in and out at the beginning and the end of the semester is a breeze with an extra set of hands. Even though we live separately, Nazareth’s campus is small so we see each other in passing and make time to visit when we want to and have spare time. We are able to grow into our own people without being directly connected to each other and can choose how much we do together and apart with our separate friends, which is refreshing after going to a small high school and spending a lot of time together.
When you’re far from home at college, it’s comforting to have a sibling close to you to lean on for support. When our grandmother passed away a year ago, I was grateful to have my sister there to get through it together. You make great friends and relationships in college, but no one knows you like your own family. 
There have been countless times where we have been each other’s listening ears when it comes to roommate problems, a familiar face when we’ve had a rough day, or an adventure buddy.
Going to Nazareth with my sister was never something I planned on, but I’m glad it happened, and if you find yourself in a similar situation looking at or going to the same college as a sibling, it can be a great experience without feeling like you’re still at home.