ATLANTA — Three years after being named the first-ever co-valedictorians at West Forsyth High School, the Kashlan triplets graduated from Georgia Tech at 18-years-old.
Adam, Zane, and Rommi Kashlan earned neuroscience degrees with minors in health and medical sciences. They completed their degrees a year early and with honors. The trio will head to Boston to work and conduct research at Harvard Medical School.
“Inseparable, right, guys?” Rommi laughed. “You can’t get away from me!”
Their parents, Dean and Majid Kashlan, said the brothers have always been close.
“They've been the best buddies all along," Dean said.
When the boys were in the first grade, school administrators suggested they be tested at a higher academic level.
"They found out that they can take one class extra," Majid said. "They accelerated them into the gifted and talented program."
And their academic success grew from there. They graduated as co-valedictorians from West Forsyth High when they were only 16-years-old.
“They worked for every bit of it; they surmounted their own little Mt. Everest," Dean said. "We followed them. We saw where they were going and all we did was make sure that that road is paved.”
Although that road led to the same university, degree and postgrad plans, they still found their paths.
“We were trying to be different and then we just merged," Zane joked. "Somehow we just found each other."
“We are very different in our passions," added Rommi, who said he wants to pursue teaching.
Zane and Adam plan to work at Harvard Medical School in affiliation with Boston Children’s Hospital as Research Assistants.
“Being a researcher is my number one passion," Adam said. "You're always going to be the best at something that you enjoy. At the end of the day, even if you have infinite success, if you don't love what you do, then it doesn't mean anything.”
The triplets credit their parents for supporting their various passions over the years.
"At the end of the day, you need you need your family to support you," Rommi said. "Everyone's going to have different passions. Everyone's going to end up someplace in life. As long as you just have that net to catch you when you fall and bounce right back up, that's the most important thing."
"I think having parents that kind of steer you in the right direction but don't like force you into something I think is really important," added Adam.
Zane said his advice for others is not to get too caught up in the "next step."
“A lot of people are focused on only going forward and sometimes I think it's good to just take like steps back to reevaluate everything," he said.
Degrees now secured, the brothers are ready to step forward.
"It's all on to the next," Rommi said. "That's our motto."
No matter who they become, they’ll still always be the brothers they’ve been.
“Whatever place there is for us, we’ll find it," Rommi said. "At the end of the day, we have each other."