{"id":17165,"date":"2017-05-03T09:06:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T13:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=17165"},"modified":"2017-07-06T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T18:00:31","slug":"two-sisters-one-mom-one-school-family-creating-legacy-utc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/05\/two-sisters-one-mom-one-school-family-creating-legacy-utc\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Sisters, One Mom, One School: Family creating a ‘legacy’ at UTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Graduate Commencement:<\/strong> 2 p.m. Friday, McKenzie Arena
\nUndergraduate Commencement<\/strong>:
\n9 a.m.<\/strong> Saturday, College of Arts & Science and College of Engineering & Computer Science;
\n1 p.m.<\/strong> Saturday, College of Business and College of Health, Education & Professional Studies; both in McKenzie Arena<\/div>\n

Kiyanna Crutcher: Organized. Kind of low-key. Always on time.<\/p>\n

Kimiil Crutcher: Not quite as organized. \u201cLow-key\u201d not even in her vocabulary. As for being on time:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe queen can never be late; everyone else is simply early,\u201d she insists as she tosses back her maroon-tinted hair in mock-diva fashion.<\/p>\n

The two sisters, born 17 months apart \u2014 a fact they say in harmonic unison when asked \u2014 are both graduating at 9 a.m. Saturday, Kiyanna with a degree in communications; Kimiil with one in general biology and a minor in psychology.<\/p>\n

By earning a UTC diploma, they\u2019re following something of a family tradition. Their mother, Kimolin Crutcher, graduated from here in 1990 with a degree in broadcast communications.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome that the school that I went to has even more meaning for them,\u201d Kimolin says. \u201cI didn\u2019t think that it would have that same effect on them. It takes my breath away when I think how they found a home there.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Kiyanna, \u201cit\u2019s like a legacy almost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cParents dream of this,\u201d Kimiil adds. \u201cYour two children are graduating from the same college at the same time and the same year. It\u2019s two accomplishments, a double whammy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their mother says UTC beckoned her daughters with the \u201cGoldilocks effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not small, not too far, not too close. It was just right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kiyanna, Kimolin, Artez and Kimiil Crutcher, from left.<\/p><\/div>\n

One-two punch<\/h3>\n

The two sisters are quite the tag team in person. Kimiil, 23, is a living can of Red Bull. Waterfalls of words pour forth; hands are always moving, clapping, waving, touching. Sometimes she bounces as she sits.<\/p>\n

Kiyanna, 21, is more anchored. Not shy, she can be just as talkative as Kimiil, but she tends to stay in the background, giving her sister the spotlight, perhaps having learned long ago that it\u2019s simply easier that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need my own reality TV show,\u201d Kimiil says.<\/p>\n

Kiyanna describes her sister as \u201calmost like a firecracker. She\u2019s very bubbly … that\u2019s the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for herself, Kiyanna says she\u2019s \u201cthe person in back with the sunglasses on, looking at everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s too cool,\u201d Kimiil quickly adds. \u201cShe\u2019s hilarious; she\u2019s a goofball.\u201d \u2014 \u201cI like it,\u201d Kiyanna pops in \u2014 \u201cShe\u2019s determined. She organized. She\u2019s the most organized of the two of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

UTC Bonding<\/h3>\n

Raised in Gallatin, Tenn., both arrived at UTC in the fall of 2013. Kiyanna was a freshman but Kimiil already had spent a year at the University of Tennessee. It didn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so big,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

UTC not only had the smaller campus and classrooms she craved, it also had her sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us to be together and be fine and be each other\u2019s backbone and stuff …,\u201d Kimiil says.<\/p>\n

Even so, they haven\u2019t lived in the same room in campus housing until this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of tried to fight it. It\u2019s like living at home,\u201d Kiyanna says.<\/p>\n

But now that they\u2019re in the same room in Stophel Apartments, both admit the setup is far more convenient.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe lived down the hall last year and I\u2019d always have to run down the hall to tell her something,\u201d Kiyanna says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have to get out of my bed when now I can just yell,\u201d Kimiil explains.<\/p>\n

However, living together or not, \u201cwe go everywhere together,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re conjoined at the hip,\u201d Kiyanna admits.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kimiil, left, and Kiyanna Crutcher were born 17 months apart.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0Facing the future<\/h3>\n

Diploma in hand, Kimiil plans to go to medical school to be a pediatrician; Kiyanna\u2019s not sure what\u2019s in her future, except traveling. She plans to go to Europe and also wants to have a cross-country adventure. After that, graduate school is probably in the picture, she just doesn\u2019t know where.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if something will spark my interest while I\u2019m out in the world,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

If nothing grabs her attention, she\u2019ll probably move back into the family home and figure out what she wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like traveling is going to empty my pockets, so I\u2019m going to need Mom and Dad to keep me up, fed and clothed and all that good stuff,\u201d she says, only half-joking \u2014 or maybe not joking at all.<\/p>\n

Kimiil, on the other hand, has a more forceful and instantaneous answer when asked if she\u2019s moving back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes to attend Meharry Medical School in Nashville and live in her own place. But \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be close enough to home where, if they wanted to drop off some groceries or something …\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo credit:<\/em> Kimiil and Kiyanna graduation photos taken by Quentin Payne<\/em><\/p>\n