catlover79
05-17-2010, 08:08 PM
http://media.www.depauliaonline.com/media/storage/paper1414/news/2010/05/17/News/Thrice.As.Nicetriplets.Carry.On.Family.Tradition.Of.Graduating.From.Depaul.Colle-3919737.shtml
Thrice as nice:Triplets carry on family tradition of graduating from DePaul College of Law
Dominic Zinn
Issue date: 5/17/10 Section: News
Thousands of students have graduated from DePaul University's College of Law since its inception in 1912, but, this year, the nearly-one-hundred-year-old institution has witnessed an unprecedented event with the graduation of Matthew, Katheryn and Christina Formeller, the first triplets in the university's history to earn law degrees.
"In fact," said Christina, "if my research is correct, we are only the second set of triplet lawyers in American history."
Though the Formellers are DePaul's first triplet law graduates, they are not the first of their family to attend DePaul. Daniel, their father, graduated from the college of law in 1976. The children say that this is one of several reasons they chose the school.
Another aspect of DePaul that appealed to the Formellers was its accommodation to part-time students. The three were able to stay home during the day to care for their mother, who has early onset Alzheimer's Disease, then attend classes in the evening.
"I know some other Chicago law schools offer part-time programs, but they don't compare to DePaul's," Christina said.
For the three children, law school was not the first time they shared a college experience. The triplets also spent their undergraduate years together at Illinois Wesleyan University, where Katheryn and Matthew majored in business administration and Christina majored in philosophy.
While often taking the same classes and sharing the same workload, the Formellers said that they hardly viewed their academics in a competitive way.
"We each helped each other in areas where the other was lacking," said Katheryn. "I never felt that there was any competition between us."
Not surprisingly, the triplets also share commonalities outside of academics. Despite being born on Chicago's North Side, Christina said that she and her siblings are avid White Sox fans. She also said that they all enjoy playing golf and spending time with their father. Still, the Formeller children do not agree on everything.
"Although we share many elements of our lives we each have our own interests," said Katheryn. "It's a good balance."
"We definitely have our differences but for the most part we get along and share most of our lives with each other," Christina added.
Apart from hobbies and school, he siblings also watch out for each other when it comes to relationships.
"Kat and I have the final say over who Matt gets to date," said Christina. "That's probably the part he likes the least about being a triplet."
The novelty of DePaul's triplet graduation has caught the attention of several major news sources, such as NBC 5 and The Chicago Sun-Times, and put the three students in Chicago's spotlight, but the Formellers say that being triplets and going to school together is just what they have always done.
"All of the attention seems ridiculous," said Christina, "but we realize that triplets are not common, and triplet lawyers are even more uncommon. This is just everyday to us, though. We've always been triplets."
Still, according to Katheryn, "it was fun to see ourselves on TV!"
Thrice as nice:Triplets carry on family tradition of graduating from DePaul College of Law
Dominic Zinn
Issue date: 5/17/10 Section: News
Thousands of students have graduated from DePaul University's College of Law since its inception in 1912, but, this year, the nearly-one-hundred-year-old institution has witnessed an unprecedented event with the graduation of Matthew, Katheryn and Christina Formeller, the first triplets in the university's history to earn law degrees.
"In fact," said Christina, "if my research is correct, we are only the second set of triplet lawyers in American history."
Though the Formellers are DePaul's first triplet law graduates, they are not the first of their family to attend DePaul. Daniel, their father, graduated from the college of law in 1976. The children say that this is one of several reasons they chose the school.
Another aspect of DePaul that appealed to the Formellers was its accommodation to part-time students. The three were able to stay home during the day to care for their mother, who has early onset Alzheimer's Disease, then attend classes in the evening.
"I know some other Chicago law schools offer part-time programs, but they don't compare to DePaul's," Christina said.
For the three children, law school was not the first time they shared a college experience. The triplets also spent their undergraduate years together at Illinois Wesleyan University, where Katheryn and Matthew majored in business administration and Christina majored in philosophy.
While often taking the same classes and sharing the same workload, the Formellers said that they hardly viewed their academics in a competitive way.
"We each helped each other in areas where the other was lacking," said Katheryn. "I never felt that there was any competition between us."
Not surprisingly, the triplets also share commonalities outside of academics. Despite being born on Chicago's North Side, Christina said that she and her siblings are avid White Sox fans. She also said that they all enjoy playing golf and spending time with their father. Still, the Formeller children do not agree on everything.
"Although we share many elements of our lives we each have our own interests," said Katheryn. "It's a good balance."
"We definitely have our differences but for the most part we get along and share most of our lives with each other," Christina added.
Apart from hobbies and school, he siblings also watch out for each other when it comes to relationships.
"Kat and I have the final say over who Matt gets to date," said Christina. "That's probably the part he likes the least about being a triplet."
The novelty of DePaul's triplet graduation has caught the attention of several major news sources, such as NBC 5 and The Chicago Sun-Times, and put the three students in Chicago's spotlight, but the Formellers say that being triplets and going to school together is just what they have always done.
"All of the attention seems ridiculous," said Christina, "but we realize that triplets are not common, and triplet lawyers are even more uncommon. This is just everyday to us, though. We've always been triplets."
Still, according to Katheryn, "it was fun to see ourselves on TV!"