These West Charlotte twins got $1 million in scholarships to go to rival NC schools

Kamryn and Kaycee Hailey have always been known as “the twins” at West Charlotte High School.

Although they don’t look identical, they said they often get lumped together by their peers. The seniors are in some of the same clubs, like student government. They’re both involved in the arts, although Kamryn is a dancer and Kaycee plays the violin. They’ve lived in Charlotte their whole lives, and they’ve always gone to the same school.

“Being a twin, you’re often lumped together, and people see you guys as having to go together and do the same thing all the time and have your identities tethered to each other,” Kaycee said.

But now the Haileys are going to be rivals — at least during basketball season.

In the fall, Kamryn will be attending UNC Chapel Hill, and Kaycee will go to Duke University.

Though they’re going to be separated for the first time, they will only be 11 miles apart. And they plan on taking the bus to visit each other. At the same time, they’re eager for this new beginning.

“Being able to go to a school where I’m just my own person and people don’t know my sister, that’s really exciting,” Kaycee said.

They said they owe their success to the resources and support from teachers and staff at West Charlotte.

“...They just kind of encourage you and really just say how much they believe in you and how much potential you have, so you definitely do want to fulfill that potential,” Kaycee said.

The emotional support from West Charlotte’s college adviser Krista McGuire was just as important too, they said.

By the end of their college application process, they had earned over $1 million in scholarships between the two of them. Kaycee got a full ride to Duke through the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship.

McGuire said she thinks of herself as more of a “next step adviser” because she wants to make sure everyone graduating has a plan, even if that plan doesn’t involve going to a four-year college. She started at West Charlotte in 2016, and she said working with the students has been life changing.

“I went to Carolina and it can be pretty competitive, and I thought (with students) there would be jealousy, but they’re so supportive — they hype each other up,” she said.

The Haileys aren’t sure what to expect next, but they have an idea of what they can do to make Durham and Chapel Hill feel like home in the fall.

Kaycee hopes to continue her education advocacy by volunteering with Durham Public schools, and Kamryn wants to continue dancing by joining one of UNC’s teams.

Kaycee wants to major in African-American studies, while Kamryn is deciding between communications or business.

Until then, both seniors plan to soak up their last summer in Charlotte.

“It’s crazy to know people since middle school or even freshman year, and now we’re all going to school,” Kamryn said. “So I’ve seen all of our hard work from the beginning, and now that we’re going where we’re going, that’s amazing.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 5:32 PM.