Graduating triplets lead this year’s ‘Unconventional Students’ video series

STORY PITCH

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Graduating triplets lead this year’s ‘Unconventional Students’ video series

HOUSTON – (April 22, 2019) – In each of the past five years, Brandon Martin, Rice University’s manager of videography, has chronicled some entering freshmen through their time on campus for his series of “Unconventional Students” videos. As part of this year’s series, Martin has featured the Houston-based Tohme triplets, who will graduate May 11. While graduation is emotional for everyone, the Tohmes’ parents will witness all three of their children graduate at once.

The Tohmes didn’t expect they would all get into Rice. When they did, Alberto, Anthony and Serena considered themselves fortunate to be able to attend the same school and still have their own individual experiences.

“I think it’s incredible that we came to Rice as a package, then branched out at the beginning to find ourselves, and then came back together at the end,” Alberto said. “It’s been a crazy journey, but I think we’ve all learned a lot about ourselves and each other.”

The Tohme triplets entered Rice with interests and curiosity and are leaving with developed passions and career paths.

Anthony, a political science and history major who plans to pursue a career in law, will attend law school in the fall.

Alberto, a political science and philosophy major, will also attend law school in the fall and is interested in working in government.

Serena, a psychology major, will attend graduate school to study public health in the fall.

Graduating from Rice is a special time for every senior, but for the Tohme triplets it also marks the first time they will live apart.

“The next step will be intimidating, because we will likely be on our own for the first time, but we’ll still always be able to call each other,” Anthony said. “Even though we won’t be in the same city, we’ll still have the same bond we’ve always had.”

“Walking out of the Sallyport (Lovett Hall’s grand archway) on graduation is going to be so emotional for so many reasons, but seeing our parents is going to be the reason I cry,” Serena said.

“Everything we did, we did to make them proud and I hope that we accomplished that,” Alberto said.

To view the Tohme video, go here.

To view the other Unconventional Students videos, go here.

To interview Alberto, Anthony and Serena, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice, at david@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.

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Additional information:

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7. Rice also has a university backdrop, 1080p webcam, light kit and wireless mic for Skype interviews.

This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,962 undergraduates and 3,027 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.