Three Miss Scotts: Cayman Island triplets among today’s Elon’s graduates Triplets
By Steve Huffman / Times-News
ELON — They were all born within six minutes, and Kristi, Staci and Suzanne Scott haven’t strayed far from one another in the years since.
Today, the triplets — natives of the Cayman Islands — will graduate from Elon University. They’re among the 1,182 students who will receive diplomas. They’re the only triplets and the only natives of the Cayman Islands.
“We’ve enjoyed Elon, we have,” Suzanne said. “It’s been special.”
The 21-year-old triplets said deciding to attend Elon wasn’t as unusual as some might think. The Cayman Islands are a British Territory located in the western Caribbean. The islands are a popular cruise-line destination.
The largest of the three Cayman Islands is Grand Cayman, where the cruise ships dock. The Scotts are natives of Cayman Brac, one of the remaining islands. Their family travels to the United States almost every year for vacation.
Suzanne said the Cayman Islands include only a handful of universities. She said a large number of students leave for college in the United States after graduating high school.
The Scott triplets learned of Elon in a roundabout way. The principal at their high school mentioned UNC Chapel Hill to them, so they investigated the school. Along the way they learned about Wake Forest University and Elon, and applied to all three.
The triplets also applied to schools in South Carolina and Texas. They were accepted to some, turned down by others before they decided on Elon.
Suzanne said the three initially weren’t sure they were going to attend the same college. She said Kristi was the first to settle on Elon, and she and Staci later made the decision.
Scholarships have helped pay their way through college. The triplets are the daughters of Roger and Dana Scott. They have no siblings.
Suzanne and Kristi roomed together their freshman year while Staci had another roommate. By their sophomore year, the three rented an apartment and added a fourth roommate, a tradition they continued their junior and senior years.
The triplets aren’t identical. Suzanne said she and Kristi are sometimes asked, “Are y’all twins?” Staci doesn’t bear as much a resemblance to her sisters.
Suzanne and Staci both majored in accounting at Elon. Kristi was an elementary education major and did her student teaching under Margaret Pardue, a kindergarten teacher at Smith Elementary School in Burlington.
Toward the end of her student teaching stint, Kristi brought her sisters to Smith one day where she introduced them to the kindergarten students she’d been working with.
“They were baffled there were three Miss Scotts,” Kristi said, laughing as she spoke.
All three plan to return to the Cayman Islands to live — a plan they’ve had since enrolling at Elon. Kristi said the move back to the islands will be somewhat more difficult than she’d first thought.
“I view Elon as my second home,” she said. “But home is home. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Kristi is moving back to Cayman Brac next week. She’s been offered a job at a school there, but she’s not sure what grade she’ll be teaching.
Suzanne and Staci will be staying at Elon through the summer, completing studies that will help them when they sit for their CPA exams. Both Suzanne and Staci have accepted accounting-related jobs on Grand Cayman.
Suzanne will be working for PricewaterhouseCoopers, a professional services firm headquartered in London. Staci is going to work for KPMG, also a professional services firm, this one headquartered in the Netherlands.
Kristi said she’s appreciative of the administrators and professors at Elon who prepared her for the step to the professional world.
“I feel I’ve been challenged,” she said. “I feel Elon was a good choice for me.”
PHOTO: From left, triplets Staci, Kristi and Suzanne Scott will graduate from Elon University today. By Scott Muthersbaugh / Times-News
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