Giving birth to quadruplet sons is rare enough, but one Ohio mother has the bittersweet honor of seeing all of them leave home to attend Yale together this fall.
Kim Wade, a 52-year-old junior high principal, and her husband, Darrin have much to be proud of, as their quadruplets received offers from a a combined 59 colleges, Harvard among them.
The sons predict that their parents and soon-to-be empty nesters will take their departure a bit differently.
In an interview with NBC News, son Zach states amid laughter, “I don’t think dad will even notice. He’ll miss us for the manual labor. Who’s going to shovel the driveway and clean the house now?”
Kim believes she and her husband will “have to figure out what to do with ourselves. Maybe new hobbies or connect with other parents who are empty nesters.”
The secret to the boys’ success? “Lots of push-ups and sit-ups and running- discipline and structure,” according to Darrin.
The discipline looks to be paying off.
After accepting the Yale offers, which hinged on the Ivy League school’s generous financial aid package, the boys maintained some structure over the summer through jobs and internships. They are also preparing separate lives and career trajectories, since they will be living in different dorms and, for some, away from each other for the first time in their lives.
Nick, who was the first to accept Yale’s offer, spent June at Columbia University to prepare students for an immersion program in Morocco and worked the rest of the summer at a nonprofit internship. Zach worked at Papa John’s Pizza and plans to study chemical engineering. Aaron is interested in computer science and artificial intelligence. Nigel, who wants to be a doctor, says “there is a lot of pressure” to do well and people assume they are geniuses.
But, he asserts, “we are just regular kids.” They’re also, apparently, very humble.
Kim and Darrin Wade, congrats on this amazing feat! We wish the boys well on their collegiate journey.