Twins graduate from UC with twice the support

Twins Melissa Golyski, left, and Adrienne Wells graduated together from the University of Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI - They may have taken different paths toward completing their education, but identical twins Adrienne Wells and Melissa Golyski were united when they graduated Dec. 12 from the University of Cincinnati.

Golyski is graduating with a bachelor's degree in accounting and Wells with a master's in counseling from the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, where she works as an academic adviser.

The two parted ways after their 2001 graduation from Lakota West High School. Golyski signed on with the U.S. Army's linguistics program and mastered Chinese.

Wells ended up at UC, earning a bachelor's in secondary language arts education in 2006.

"We each kind of shared each other's experiences, so it was almost better than both of us being in college or both of us being in the service," Wells said.

They reunited in 2004 when Golyski enrolled in UC's accounting program.

Golyski was all set to graduate with just four weeks left in her final senior quarter in 2008 when she learned her sprained ankle was the result of a serious medical condition, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. It caused extreme lower body pain, forcing her into a wheelchair and out of school to pursue specialized care in North Carolina.

Determined to walk for her sister's September 2008 wedding, Golyski attended physical therapy and fought the pain, which still flares when she is hurt, sick, stressed or overwhelmed.

"Everybody said she was just so inspired and so motivated to walk at my wedding that she just worked her little butt off and she was in so much pain," Wells said.

With the help of drug therapy and sheer will, she not only walked at her sister's wedding, but also decided it was time to finish her degree.

Because credits wouldn't transfer, she would have had to start back in her sophomore year.

That's where Wells was able to step in as an academic adviser. The newlywed invited her twin and 5-year-old niece to move in with her and her husband, David Wells, in West Chester Twp. to finish the last quarter at UC. "My experience working as an adviser helped her to see support services she could take advantage of," Wells said. "Her disorder made her very nervous to come back to school.

"I can't take away the pain, but I could at least offer my job - what I do for a living. I think it helped her say 'OK. I think I can do this,' " Wells said.

Watching her 26-year-old twin go through something so painful has been tough, Wells said, but that makes graduating together even more special.

"I'm extremely proud of her," she said. "I think this is something that we've both been working toward in some way, shape or form. It's just more meaningful that we get to do it together.

"Ever since being separated after high school, its like we're coming back to another fork in the road, and it's even more special now."

Golyski plans to move to South Carolina to pursue a career and marry her finance, Army Capt. James Watson.

"Me and my sister are really, really close and I really missed being with her," Golyski said. "Growing up, we got to do everything together. It has been great. I love my sister, she's amazing. I could not have done this without her."

(Edit:Ruby)