Nashville teen triplets, prodigies plan to dual enroll, attend MTSU in the future

The amazing Alnassar triplets are preparing to enter MTSU. They will be dual enrollment students next fall and full-fledged freshmen in the future. After meeting the 13-year-old whiz kids, university President Sidney A. McPhee looks forward to their youthful vitality and presence being a part of campus someday.

Make that the Alnassar triplets, plus one, as their mother, Khaeijah Alnassar, will be a freshman in 2020, joining Zaynab, older sister (by one minute) Fatimah and brother Ahmed when they take dual enrollment classes.

The Alnassar family was among more than 100 prospective high school and transfer students and several hundred people altogether attending the MTSU True Blue Tour recruiting event Tuesday, Oct. 22, at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.

MTSU’s tour takes the university to 14 cities in four states as it recruits prospective students for 2020 and beyond.

The Alnassar triplets are 10th-graders at Metro Nashville Public School’s Virtual Academy. Their mother has them on a 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. academic routine.

“This is history,” McPhee said while talking to them and acknowledging something like this has never happened at the university. “It’s really incredible. To have triplets and Mom as part of education together … I’m just thrilled they selected MTSU. I look forward to seeing you all on campus.”

An obviously proud Khaeijah Alnassar said her children “are ready to go to college.”

The triplets are not only gifted academically, but as artists, too. They are multiple award winners at the Tennessee State Fair. Their art and crafts have been displayed at the La Vergne Public Library. All three have published novels and attended nine weeks of summer camps this year.

Ahmed Alnassar, who wants to be a surgeon and will study premed at MTSU, is a trained boxer who attended the MTSU aviation camps this summer. “I want to be a surgeon or doctor and help people who can’t help themselves so I can make a difference,” he said. Should he go the heart surgeon route, it’s because a younger brother was born with 17 holes in his heart.

Fatimah Alnassar wants to major in biology and minor in animation. She also wants to be a physician. “I want to go to other countries and give them the medical support they need,” she said, adding that her animation training could produce a video or videos “to help fund charity organizations.”

Zaynab Alnassar wants to be a veterinarian and plans to study chemistry and biology at MTSU. “I like having the opportunity MTSU provides,” she said.

Nashville highlights

• Arianna Smith, 17, a Hume-Fogg Academic High School senior with an eye toward MTSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, walked out of the event with a $6,000 scholarship. “Awesome” is how Smith, who takes all honors courses at Hume-Fogg, felt after her name was called. “God is good,” her mother, Casius Smith said.
• Lauren Averill, 17, of Portland, Tennessee, and a Portland High senior, carries a 4.0 GPA and 33 ACT. She and her mother, Maureen Averill, are quite impressed with MTSU’s animation program, which is one of the best in the nation. “I’m really excited to graduate from high school and get in the program,” Lauren Averill said. She also plans to apply for an Honors College Buchanan Fellowship — the top scholarship at MTSU.
• Josie Gillespie, 22, of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, will graduate in May 2020 with an associate degree in graphic design from Columbia State Community College. She and her mother, Amanda Webb, have taken in two True Blue Tour events and a recent campus tour, all in October. “We’re ready for her to start,” Webb said. “I’m excited for her to go (to MTSU).”
• George Samir caught McPhee’s attention when it was revealed the young man was a potential transfer from Tennessee Tech University, where he’s a civil engineering student. Samir’s name was drawn for a special MTSU blanket — and the president added a $1,000 scholarship to influence Samir’s decision.
• National Alumni Association President Shawn Johnson (Class of 1993 in liberal arts) attended both the luncheon and student reception. The student reception audience heard from alumni James Payne (’06/music business side of recording industry) and Barbara Pafetti (’18/business management-supply chain and the Honors College).

“We have one of the best music business programs in the world,” Payne told the crowd. “The friendships I made at MTSU meant the world to me. The MTSU experiences taught me valuable lessons.”

On deck for the True Blue Tour

MTSU administrators and staff will travel next to Chattanooga Tuesday, Oct. 29, to the Chattanooga Convention Center before heading to Atlanta Wednesday, Oct. 30, and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina, 4000 Summit Blvd. NE. At both venues, MTSU will entertain counselors and community college staff with a 12:30 p.m. luncheon and students and families with a 6 p.m. reception.