Editor’s Note: The online version of this article was updated on Oct. 12, 2021 for clarification.
11-year-old twins Caroline and Emily Lindsay, and 17-year-old Elizabeth, the new first daughters of Taylor University, have spent practically their entire lives on a college campus.
Last spring, all of campus was endeared by Caroline and Emily’s smiles and words of advice to students when they were introduced as the youngest daughters of Taylor’s new president, Michael Lindsay.
This fall, The Echo had the chance to sit down with the twins and their mother Rebecca to learn more about them, their lives in Upland and their passions.
How has living in Upland been for you so far?
Caroline: “People in Massachusetts are nice and stuff, but people here just seem to be extra friendly. They’ve been able to show us around … In some ways, (Boston and Upland are) similar, but obviously there are differences … one of the differences we’ve noticed is that the people and the environment here are so welcoming.”
What is your favorite part of campus so far?
Caroline: “Chick-fil-A is very convenient, but … we all enjoy Taylor lake … and it’s a really pretty campus too.”
Have you been to Ivanhoe’s yet? What is your favorite flavor?
Caroline & Emily: “Strawberry Shortcake!”
So, after living at Gordon for 10 years, you’ve basically spent your whole life around college students. What has that been like?
Emily: “We’re one of the college kids. We’re professional college students.”
Caroline: “We’ve grown up with mostly college students, especially when we were really young too, so I feel like that’s where we live and we’re adjusted to it.”
Emily: “I was like eight and I was like, ‘Oh, what year are you?’ and (a student) said ‘It’s my second year,’ so I said, ‘Oh, you’re a sophomore,’ and they were like, ‘Yeah!’ Since we grew up on a college campus, we learned stuff.”
You’ve met a lot of different students from different majors and parts of the world. Has that given you any ideas of what you want to be when you grow up?
Emily: “I want to look into engineering … I really want to help special needs children. Elizabeth helps me do that, so I think that engineering and designing devices for special needs children for communication would be fun.”
Caroline: “So we had this little co-op event, and as they said, ‘So what do you want to do when you grow up?’ I said, ‘Oh, I want to be a nurse’ … I think it would be nice to work in a hospital because I really like to help people. That’s something I enjoy doing. I'm not a very good medical person, obviously, but like the business side or something else, I think I'd want to do something with that.”
So you’re living in a new house — are you two sharing a bedroom?
Caroline: “We kind of like sharing a bedroom … Plus there’s someone to talk to at 1:30 a.m.”
Emily: “That does not mean that I enjoy it.”
Do you have any insight on your dad that students should know?
Emily: “When we were younger he would lip sync ‘Let it Go’ with us a lot.”
The girls also shared a game that their dad would play with them as kids where they got to pick a type of dessert and he would say goodnight to them according to that dessert.
Caroline: “(For pineapple upside down cake) he would flip us, take us in a piggy back, and drop us down and flip us again ... Then we got too big and we couldn’t do it.”
Michael Lindsay has also given dessert-themed nicknames to the girls in his family. Emily is “White Chocolate Emily,” Caroline is “Sea Salted Caroline,” Rebecca is “Birthday Cake Mom” and Elizabeth is “Red Velvet Elizabeth.”
So you are a big dessert family?
Caroline: “We all have sweet tooths.”
Emily: “We’ve developed a big passion for cooking and baking. (Caroline) usually bakes the cakes and I like to decorate them.”
For their older sister Elizabeth’s 16th birthday party, they made a three-layer cake. Then on their birthday, they made individual cakes for every guest with plenty of frosting options.
Any dating advice for students?
Emily: “Do your homework first.”
Rebecca: “When do we start following our own advice?”
Do you have any advice for students who are new to campus?
Caroline: “Try out new things!”
Both Caroline and Emily said they love when students introduce themselves on campus.
So next time you see the smiling faces of the Lindsay girls waiting for the bus at the corner or enjoying a volleyball or football game, introduce yourself to them! Ask about their favorite hobbies — baking, crafting and reading — or let them share a little bit about their lives as middle schoolers in Upland. They’d be more than happy to share their “professional college student” expertise with you and can’t wait to meet more of campus!
