I walk up the stairs of the Bowld at the same time as Nicholas and Alexander Bitterling, two of the brothers I’m planning to interview. They immediately wave, start talking and never stop talking. From the minute we said hello to the moment we parted ways, the conversation just kept going.
As we sit down at one of the tables, we all wonder where Zachary is. I assume that the other brothers must know where he is. But I soon learn that they also have no idea where he is and begin to call and track his location. We quickly learn that Zachary is in fact just now waking up and will be on his way soon.
Fifteen minutes pass, and he finally walks up the stairs, apologizing profusely, and to my surprise, is even more talkative than his other brothers.
Alexander, Nicholas and Zachary Bitterling are brothers from a large family of nine children in Bowling Green, Ky. Each one, to my surprise, is distinctly different and involved in a wide variety of organizations on campus and in their local church.
Alexander is a senior broadcast journalism and Christian studies major. He led the way in his choice to attend Union. Nicholas is a sophomore Biblical studies and political science major. Zachary is a freshman applied linguistics major. They are all involved in numerous on-campus leadership opportunities and are all heavily involved in Englewood Baptist Church.
The faculty’s genuine interest in their lives is what drew this family to invest so much time and money into an education at Union.
“The professors weren’t concerned about getting me here at Union, but they were more concerned about what was best for me as a person,” Nicholas said as he reflected back on his time visiting Union.
Sibling pairs and groups are very common here at Union, but what is the appeal to attending college at the same time as two of your brothers? If I had an older sibling, I can honestly say that I would never go to the same school as them, so I’m curious as to why these brothers all ended up at Union.
“It was really cool for me to have two of my closest best friends that I’ve grown up with here,” said Zachary. “And their dorms are always open to me.”
When Nicholas first visited, he admits that it was a concern that he would simply be known as Alexander’s brother. “But then I just realized, you know what?” Nicholas explained. “I don’t really care, I can break stereotypes. I don’t really care what people think of me, this is where I want to go anyway.”
They all come to a general consensus that they don’t really get called “so-and-so’s brother,” but they all have their own individual identities. Sometimes there’s the occasional, “Are you a Bitterling?” But Union has given them all three a place to be committed and involved in their various areas of interest on and off campus.
This is what we are to strive for. To be known for who we are, individually, instead of a stereotype of our certain group or family unit. Identity and uniqueness are essential aspects of the college life, and the Bitterling brothers have found that despite attending college together.
“For me it didn’t change a lot when my brother got here because I was going into my junior year, so I knew a lot of people.” Alexander said. “The only thing that changed was getting a few, ‘oh you’re Nicholas’s brother,’ and I was like, ‘no he’s my brother.’”
They admit that this interview is the first time they have all been in the same place this semester. And as I ask if there are any downsides to going to college with your brothers, there is a room full of laughter. There are truly no downsides for these guys. They have never encountered the problem of having to overcome a terrible stereotype put in place by one of their brothers because none of them are terrible people.
Home life is similar to life on campus. Because of their various jobs, they see each other just as much at home as they do on the college campus.
“Will there be more Bitterlings coming to Union in the near future?” I asked.
“We are all very involved at Union, and it is very time consuming. But also, this is our life at Union,” Nicholas said as we began to wrap up. “We’re kinda in a bubble here. When we go home, that’s all we have to talk about, so our siblings hear so much about Union. I think they’ll definitely want to come.”
With five more siblings in the line up, be on the look out for more members of the Bitterling family on campus soon.
Photo by Maddie Steele
