It’s hard to ignore seniors Jen and Rose Nguyen. Whether they’re leading a club meeting, working on their passion projects or hanging out together, they stand out as a pair of strong leaders and accomplished students.

Jen and Rose have done it all. They’ve served as officers on numerous honor societies along with Student Council, tutored countless students and furthered their ambitions through numerous self-started initiatives.

“I wasn’t always this involved,” Rose said. “People who used to know me in elementary school or even middle school would probably describe me as ‘the quiet girl’. Now that I’m in high school, I became involved in all of these clubs and took that leap. Talking to different people from all different backgrounds [has caused me to] grow so much.”

Jen and Rose are both officers for National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, National English Honor Society and Student Council.

“We both became officers for our school’s honor societies by just advocating for what we believe should be implemented in our school,” Jen said. “We have a strong interest in initiating change, so we wanted to step in and be that change when we had the opportunity. Leading these clubs with [Rose] makes it a lot easier since we run on the same wavelength and can understand each other’s ideas and thoughts. It makes implementing events and pushing out volunteer opportunities so much more efficient since we are able to talk together and make sure that these ideas turn into reality.”

Both twins have tutored other students and children since eighth grade through Kumon. They tutor kids from preschool all the way up to high school. Rose has also started a global tutoring initiative in order to help people in other areas of the world, such as the Middle East or Asia.

“This may sound cliché, but I really like how we’re able to transcend borders through the initiative,” Rose said. “Whether they’re physical borders or other constraints such as Wi-Fi issues or connectivity issues, I really love helping others learn. I enjoy connecting with others, and the fact that I can connect with people beyond just my local community is very inspiring. Whenever I tutor others, even though they benefit from that, I also learn a lot from them, and it’s a super cool experience.”

Jen also founded her own initiative, called Project Care, for HOSA that focuses on helping kids with anxiety and OCD. She collaborates with nonprofits to educate the community about these topics and other problems such as homelessness.

“I really like how [Project Care] allows me to connect with the community, especially since we heavily focus on anxiety,” Jen said. “It’s an underrepresented topic that isn’t really talked about with adolescents. It’s really cool that we’re able to do all of these outreach activities and connect with our school along with local communities and non-profit organizations in order to advocate for anxiety.”

Jen has unilateral deafness, which means that she can only hear through one ear. She said that instead of struggling with this challenge, she has embraced it and allowed it to help her with Project Care.

“Even though I can’t gain the full experience of hearing from both ears, I like to try to go above and beyond and hear others out through things like Project Care,” Jen said. “I’m able to hear other people’s needs then address them in our community.”

Both twins plan to go to the University of Texas at Austin. Jen will major in biology on a pre-med track in order to eventually become a doctor, and Rose’s major is currently undeclared, but she plans to transfer into economics or a similar major in order to pursue a business-related career.

“I feel like I’m mature for my age, so I’m excited to move into a different space where everyone else is in that same headspace and they’re all mature and not as interested in gossip and drama,” Rose said. “I think college is a time for liberation and to get more freedom. I feel like all of high school, I’ve been stressed out while working towards college, and now that I’m actually going to college, all of that stress is pretty much gone. I feel like college is going to be a very enriching experience for me to just grow into a new person.”

Jen and Rose said that they enjoy being twins because they have a built-in best friend.

“My favorite thing about [Jen] is her drive and motivation,” Rose said. “She always sets her mind on something and it’s inspiring to see her follow through with her plan. I’m always so proud of her every day with what she does, especially with her passion project with Project Care. Her ability to lead and inspire change is definitely something that I have always looked up to. I feel like if I ever need to go to someone, it will definitely always be my sister first because I know that she gets me like no one else does.”