For many incoming freshman, making the transition to college life\u2014new friends, new digs, new routine\u2014can be daunting. But for identical twins, Kayla and Kellie Bingham \u201914, plunging into their freshman year at Furman was a little easier.<\/p>\n
That’s because they did it together.<\/p>\n
\u201cAutomatically, it took one stress of college away,\u201d said Kayla. \u201cYou go into college knowing someone very, very well. Because I felt comfortable, it made me so much more outgoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Binghams’ four-year journey came to a close. The sisters were one of three sets of identical twins to graduate with Furman’s Class of 2014.<\/p>\n
Sisters Kayla and Kellie Bingham of Cayce, S.C., earned their bachelor\u2019s degrees in biology. Heath Burton of Belton, S.C., earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in health sciences, while twin brother Hunter Burton earned his in business administration. Sisters Caley and Kiersty Degroote of Lyman, S.C., both earned bachelor\u2019s degrees in political science and communications.<\/p>\n
Kayla and Kellie have chosen similar career paths but want to remain distinct individuals.<\/p>\n
At times that can be challenging. They are members of the same sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. As biology majors, they\u2019ve purposefully scheduled the same classes at the same times. They study best together and wanted to be able to study the same material.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve worked on research projects separately: Kayla with Biology Professor Victoria Turgeon and Kellie with Biology Professor Jason Rawlings.<\/p>\n
Kellie is planning a career as an ob-gyn or an anthesiologist, while Kayla hopes to become a surgeon. They\u2019ve both enrolled at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.<\/p>\n
With similar interests at the same school, \u201cit takes a little longer for you to establish yourself as an individual,\u201d said Kayla Bingham.<\/p>\n
For the Degrootes, their paths as undergraduates started out differently, but gradually began to overlap. Caley started out as a communications major while Kiersty majored in political science. After they discovered they enjoyed each other\u2019s majors, they both decided to double major in the two disciplines.<\/p>\n
They joined separate sororities, Delta Gamma and Kappa Kappa Gamma, but decided to participate in Mock Trial together all four years. They weren\u2019t able to compete as rival attorneys though\u2014it was too confusing.<\/p>\n
Their friends were only slightly confused their freshman year when they both drove matching white Suzuki Aerios. After one of the cars was rear-ended, they replaced it with a black Suzuki.<\/p>\n
A tell-tale mole on Caley\u2019s cheek is the main way most people tell the sisters apart. Though sometimes people still mistake their identities and randomly hug the wrong twin, they don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t tell the Binghams apart until last year,\u201d Caley DeGroote said.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ll head to Wake Forest Law School together next year, though they haven\u2019t decided on their specialties as yet. A third Degroote, their younger sister Kara, will graduate from Furman in 2016.<\/p>\n