March 27, 2012

The Fantastic Four: Sisters, Friends, Classmates, Alumnae

When Jeanie Mullins ’16 starts classes in the fall, she’ll have more than the usual campus support – she’s the youngest of four close-knit sisters who have decided to join the Lewis & Clark community in the last six years. Jeanie and her sisters – Jessica ’10, Jennifer ’12 and Jet’aime Mullins ’13 – are part of a strong legacy tradition of families who choose to attend L&C, and credit the College with starting them on the road to success.

When Jeanie Mullins ’16 starts classes in the fall, she’ll have more than the usual campus support – she’s the youngest of four close-knit sisters who have decided to join the Lewis & Clark community in the last six years. Jeanie and her sisters – Jessica ’10, Jennifer ’12 and Jet’aime Mullins ’13 – are part of a strong legacy tradition of families who chose to attend L&C, and credit the college with starting them on the road to success.

“I am really lucky to have three older sisters to pave the way,” Jeanie said. “I felt very prepared for applying to college at the start of my senior year after watching my sisters go through it. Also I have three great sources for advice.”

The family tradition started with Jessica, currently a web programmer at Columbia Sportswear, when she chose to come to L&C from her hometown of Randle, in rural central Washington.  Between a position on the softball team and a good financial package, L&C was her top pick from the 10 schools she considered. In fact, all of the sisters looked at other schools, and it wasn’t always a given they would be at the same school.

Jennifer originally thought she’d attend the University of Washington, but in the end decided a smaller school would be more comfortable for her. “I couldn’t have been more right,” she said. At L&C she is a biochemistry and molecular biology major, and runs cross country and track, among other assorted extracurricular activities.

 Jet’aime, an economics major who also plays softball, told her older sister Jessica she “definitely” wouldn’t be following in her footsteps. In the end, though, she decided she didn’t want to miss out on all the sister time, which includes a lot of frozen yogurt and talk about their shared passion for softball.

Jessica, Jennifer and Jet’aime all live together off campus, and Jeanie, who is considering studying film or computer science, makes trips down as often as she can to visit her older sisters and watch Jet’aime play softball or go to a concert with Jessica and Jennifer. In fact, the sisters get along so well, that they’ve dubbed themselves the Fantastic Four.  “A lot of my friends think it’s strange how well my sisters and I get along,” says Jeanie.

And the benefits of attending the same school extend beyond the sisters.  A consolidated trip makes having multiple students in college at the same time just a smidge easier for parents Pretrina and Walter.