At first glance, senior Amanda VanOoteghem is the vision of coolness and confidence. This can be defined by her frivolous hand gestures, unique style, and laid back persona.

She has a tendency to flip her hair when she speaks and strike a pose whenever she gets the chance.

There is one more thing about her: there are two more of her!

This is not quite the truth, they are only her sisters — seniors Hannah and Kaitlyn VanOoteghem.

Growing up as triplets made life a bit different for the VanOoteghem sisters.

Amanda and her sisters turn heads wherever they go.

“Every time we go out, people are staring at us,” Amanda said.

For Amanda, this meant a lot of strangers coming up to her and her sisters with numerous questions.

This caused her to be self-conscious when she was younger, but now it has become normal.

Now, at age 18, Amanda no longer notices the stares.

“Half of the time, I don’t even realize I’m a triplet,” Amanda said.

When it does cross her mind, Amanda expresses great appreciation for being a triplet.

When she was younger, hanging out with her sisters did not seem appealing.

But as she gets older, she feels as though she is closer to her sisters than regular siblings might be.

Amanda said that her sisters are her best friends.

She shares inside jokes with them and is able to trust them enough to tell them all of her secrets.

Having someone to talk to at any time of the day about their struggles has strengthened the bond between Amanda and her sisters.

Overall, spending time with her sisters has played a large role in Amanda’s life.

Amanda also appreciates being in school with her sisters.

They all take the same or closely-related classes, allowing them to help each other with schoolwork.

Although being a triplet has impacted Amanda’s life in many positive ways, it has made establishing her own identity an obstacle.

“No one distinguishes us as different people,” Amanda said.

In elementary school, she and her sisters had to be put into different classrooms because some of their teachers struggled to learn their names.

While she was growing up, Amanda tried to make a point to become her own person and to let others know she was different.

She made her own friends and tried becoming more outgoing.

Now, cheer is one thing that makes her unique from her sisters.

Her sisters cheered with her in previous years, but she is the only one that stuck with it consistently.

Amanda has been cheering on the varsity team all four years of her high school career.

She enjoys that cheering is her thing.

Another enjoyable part of cheer for Amanda is how it has impacted her as a person.

Being on a varsity team has allowed Amanda to manifest leadership skills and create new friendships.

“Sometimes we want to rip each other’s throats out, but I wouldn’t trade my cheer family for the world,” Amanda said.

Without her team, she said she would not be as outgoing as she is today, and her voice probably would not be as deep.

Her sister Hannah admires Amanda for her extroverted personality.

“She has a naturally strong personality, and whatever she says shows it,” Hannah said.

A few of Amanda’s other hobbies are longboarding and suntanning in the summer.

She also enjoys painting, although she is not able to do it often with her busy schedule.

Once high school is over, Amanda hopes that wherever she and her sisters end up, they will remain close at heart.

She is not the only one who feels sentimental about the possibility of the sisters splitting up.

“Everything I’ve done for my entire life, I’ve had my sisters with me,” Kaitlyn said.

Amanda said a change of scenery sounds nice, so she is not sure if she and her sisters will all go to college together.

“Wherever we all decide to go to college, I’ll probably still call them every day,” Amanda said.