Four years ago, Zach, Nigel, Aaron and Nick Wade couldn’t have possibly predicted the world into which they would be graduating from college.
As 2017 Lakota East grads, the quintuplets made national headlines as they were accepted into very competitive Ivy League schools and all four opted to attend Yale University.
Their programs of study, social and extracurricular activities, along with the global pandemic that began during their junior year, have shaped them, bringing the brothers to where they are today. They are each already making a positive impact on the world.
Nick came to Yale hoping to study international relations and Arabic, and is pursuing that dream with a degree in political science focused on the Middle East.
"I have discovered a passion for development finance and working with refugees," he says.
Zach continued his plan of studying Chemical Engineering, but also added studies in Economics.
“I really came to college liking hard math and sciences, but as I got into school, I realized that Yale had a great Economics program with world-class faculty,” says Zach.
Nigel’s interests stayed centered on Neuroscience, but with further specialization during his time at Yale.
“I switched into molecular, cellular and developmental biology in my sophomore year,” explains Nigel. “Currently I am working in a neurobiology lab, so I’m still able to keep a lot of my original neuroscience interests alive.”
Aaron’s area of study held constant as a computer science and psychology joint major, but a serendipitous moment set him on a track to a new passion.
“On the first day of classes my freshman year, I accidentally went to the wrong building for one of my classes and found myself in an introductory Mandarin Chinese class instead. I absolutely loved it—and now I'm in my fourth year of Mandarin and can speak fluently,” says Aaron.
Nick has found that Yale has offered a varied enough social world for him and his brothers to each make their own way with separate coursework and even extracurriculars.
"Because of this divergence, we had to kind of re-get to know each other," says Nick.
Aaron echoed this experience, mentioning that they don’t really run into each other accidentally and thus have made an effort to make time for each other.
Zach says that, while they have their own social circles, they make sure they still have time for each other as brothers.
These young men have bright futures ahead for this summer and beyond.
Nick and Zach will both be working for Goldman Sachs in investment banking after graduation, while Nigel pursues work in the Chandra Lab at Yale, conducting research into Parkinson's Disease. Aaron took a semester off for full-time work as a creative technologist at Google, so his studies will continue until December.
These four gentlemen have each handled the arrival of the pandemic in their own ways. Nigel needed to push back his MCAT testing, delaying future medical school plans. Zach and Nick both mention that socializing became harder, so they reached out virtually to each other and to their friends and family. Aaron was glad to have his brothers nearby when visiting their parents wasn’t possible.
The Wades were often recognized just for being fraternal quadruplets in school, while this fact has been less relevant to them in the bigger social community of Yale. Nigel comments thoughtfully on the distinction between being quadruplets and other kinds of siblings.
“We joke around like regular siblings, we fight like regular siblings, and we find ways to tolerate each other like regular siblings. I think what is different is the level of understanding that we have for each other,” Nigel explains. “We grew up together in the same household for 18 years and were at each others’ side for every step of that journey. Because of those shared struggles and triumphs, my brothers have an understanding of my personality that no one else will probably ever have.”