‘A New Chapter’ for Incoming Hawk Triplets

Isabella, Francesca and Angelina Oliveira didn’t plan to attend college together.

The triplets from Bellmawr, New Jersey, each fell in love with St. Joe’s individually, and now, they say, they are looking forward to sticking together for the next four years.

At Triton Regional High School in Runnemede, New Jersey, everyone knew the three girls as “the triplets,” Francesca says.

“Even though they knew our names, it was just easier to say ‘the triplets,’” she says. “In college, people aren’t going to know unless they’re a friend of ours. They’ll know us by our own names instead of referring to me as the triplet. It’s nice to start a new chapter.”

Each of the Oliveira sisters say they are excited about St. Joe’s proximity to their hometown, and the opportunity to live somewhere with a campus feel that is still so close to Philadelphia. 

In high school, they enrolled in the same extracurricular activities, which meant they spent a lot of time together. They played volleyball together for three years and joined the same clubs, Isabella says.

In college, Francesca will study nursing. She says she knew from her first campus tour that she wanted to attend St. Joe’s and be part of the nursing program’s inaugural class — she’s always wanted to work in the medical field.

Angelina, who will major in English, says she was also set on attending St. Joe’s from the beginning. 

“There are a lot of opportunities because you're so close to the city,” Angelina says. “I also thought it was such a pretty campus and people seemed so nice. And I liked how it was a smaller school.”

Isabella, deciding in late spring between two universities, ultimately landed on St. Joe’s, where she plans to major in health sciences and enroll in the physician assistant program, with the goal of working in dermatology. 

When their mom, Dawn Oliveira, realized that all of her daughters would attend St. Joe’s together, she was excited — not only because move-in day and picking them up for weekend visits is a task now made three times easier, but also because her girls would be together. Plus, she felt comfortable on Hawk Hill and enjoys the fact that campus is relatively close to home.

“I feel like they’ll all still have their own identities,” Dawn says. “They're all different majors and they'll find their own niches, but they'll still have each other if they need it. I feel like that was the best bet for them.”

Francesca, Angelina and Isabella will all live in McShain Hall this fall, where Isabella and Angelina will be roommates. 

“I’m happy that we're all going to the same school,” Angelina says. “Now, I have people, and it’s going to be less hard meeting friends and adjusting.”

Isabella, though wary about attending the same college as her sisters, says she is also looking forward to being in the same place.

“We’ve never been away from home in our entire lives, so when I made the decision, it made my mom happy, but I'm happy too,” she says. “I already have people. It’s a way to make me feel more comfortable in a new place.”