Before walking across the stage with her brother Khurram, Nada Batool Butt joked she should probably hand her degree directly over to him.

The two siblings graduated together with Bachelor of Science (Honours) degrees in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Convocation ceremony in front of a packed house at Brock University Monday, June 4.

“He was like my alarm clock,” joked Nada when asked about the benefits of going to school with a sibling. “I’m the lazy one. I’m always slacking on assignments or forgetting about them, and he’s always the one who’s on time and reminding me that it’s time to do an assignment.”

Nada, 23, and Khurram, 22, have spent time living in both Canada and Pakistan, where their parents were born, but they returned to Canada while in high school. Now living in Niagara Falls, they both chose Brock University and have leaned on each other for support ever since applying.

“We do everything together,” Khurram said. “It’s quite helpful because you can work on assignments together and can go to class together and sometimes if you have to miss a class it’s okay because you know the other person is going to be there.”

The two say they’ve never been competitive with each other, so who did better on assignments or exams never really mattered.

With their first degrees now secured, both are looking to continue their education, but their paths will head in different directions. Khurram plans to get a second degree from Brock in Computer Sciences, while Nada is looking at enrolling in a college pharmaceutical or child education program.