One child is expensive, but giving birth to twins means daunting bills to pay for college education. For All Bahamas Merit (ABM) Scholar Domonic McDonald and his twin Donovan McDonald, a National Merit Scholar (NMS), post-secondary education would have been an impossible dream that their parents could not have been able to afford. With receipt of $150,000 and $80,000 scholarships respectively, the 17-year-old identical twins are college bound.

Domonic and Donovan leave at the end of the month to begin studies at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, instead of Texas A&M. Domonic will study political science with a specialty in international relations; while Donovan’s focus will be on medical bio-physics.

“We were thinking about Texas, but the at the end of the day, the University of Western Ontario is just a better fit ... it’s more affordable, and the scholarship covers the full cost, whereas at Texas, my parents [Brian and Constance McDonald] would still have had to put more money,” said Domonic. “It’s just more convenient for us to stay together.”

The twins, the children of a legal secretary mother, and a self-employed father, said college scholarships was always their focus. Without scholarships they knew that college would have been just a pipe dream for them.

“Getting a scholarship was always my goal,” said Domonic, the ABM.

“My family does not have the money to put us through college, so I worked really hard and this has been the goal of my entire high school career,” said Donovan. “So when I finally realized the goal, it was really exciting,” said the NMS winner.

Both young men have always been exceptional students — Domonic more so would be named to the honor roll and principal’s list every semester — while Donovan would make the honor roll every semester, but earned principal’s list honors probably every other semester. Domonic says the reason for his academic success was that he always paid attention in class and that he wasn’t a student with poor focus.

“I was always focused in class, and because of that it just helped with my understanding of whatever was being discussed, so when it came time for exams, I could perform well,” he said. But in the same vein he says he wasn’t a top student.

The tide turns

But when he entered his high school years, his focus went to another level. He said he “buckled down” and took his studies seriously. According to him, it helped that he was introduced to several teachers in high school who helped him to realize he could achieve a lot more.

“I always did well, making the honor roll and the principal’s list, but I was never on top … or the best student. I came into contact with several teachers who really pushed me and helped me to realize that if I put in the time and effort that I could be the best student.”

Donovan also did well academically, but he said he in his early high school years he did not work up to the standard he did in his final year. And that he certainly did not work up to the level of his brother.

“I always got like 3.7 and made the honor roll every year and made the principal’s list often, but not every single year. Domonic was on the principal’s list every single term. I was there probably every other term. There was a point where he kind of just shot up and he was this amazing student all of a sudden, and I was at the same standard, and everyone was looking to me to be like this great student too, and it really didn’t happen for me until like this year,” said Donovan who is younger than his brother by two-and-a-half minutes. “By twelfth grade we did [Advanced Placement] courses, and it really hit me that I needed to work harder and do well. I did well this year. It was a blessing honestly.”

Domonic actually took four AP classes — human geography, psychology, calculus and Spanish. Donovan did the same classes, except when it came down to the foreign language. He took French. The elder twin and ABM scholar graduated Queen’s College with a 4.01 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and 10 Bahamas General Certificates of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams, all with “A” grades; while Donovan’s final GPA was a 3.95. He also earned 10 BGCSE results — eight “A” grades, one “B” grade and one “C” grade.

Domonic recorded a 2,050 on his Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Donovan scored 1,810.

Brother helping brother

The brothers were right there with each other academically, even though Domonic would always be the frontrunner.

“Normally what would happen is I would do extremely well and he would be behind me,” said Domonic. “But I just knew that if he had put in some more time that we would have been on the same level.” Donovan did that in their final year, and matched his brother point for point. They earned identical GPA’s each semester of their senior year.

“This year we actually got the same grade point averages for each term, so we were right on par with each other and it was a really refreshing experience to know that we finished high school being on par and that he had finally reached to my level,” said Domonic.

Having a twin meant he had a built-in study partner at home which worked for the duo as they are naturally inquisitive, a trait Domonic says they get from their mother.

“If we didn’t get something we didn’t wait to go to school to find the answer. We scoured the Internet to try to figure it out for ourselves. And through that research we educated ourselves even more. That’s normally how we function,” said Domonic. “So even though if neither of us necessarily doesn’t know the answer, usually if we combine our resources and time to research it, we would come up with an answer eventually.”

Domonic’s favorite subject in high school was history. He said it was interesting for him to look back at how people lived.

“They say history has a tendency to repeat itself, so it’s interesting seeing how similar things show up today,” he said.

The subject that he had to put a little extra into and which held especially true for his final year was math.

“I did AP calculus this year and it was extremely hard. It was a challenge like none other. I’ve never taken a more challenging course,” he said. Donovan on the other hand says physics is his favorite subject. He had to work hardest at his chemistry studies.

With high school behind them, the twins eagerly anticipate the next chapter in their life which would not have been a reality had they not been the recipients of $230,000 in combined scholarship money.

“I’m looking forward to it, and excited to open up this new chapter in my life and see what college is about and just kind of feel that independence,” said Domonic.

Donovan’s goal includes doing well enough to obtain further scholarship money to pay for the remainder of his tuition that his NMS scholarship doesn’t cover. He says he doesn’t want his parents to have to pay for anything.

“Eventually, I hope to graduate with honors and get a scholarship to complete my master’s degree and even my doctorate degree,” he said.

A rich history

In the 22 years since the ABM scholarship inception, Q.C. has had seven of its students named ABM — Damian Forbes (1995), Rhys Powell (1996), Jehan Unwala (1997), Ricardo Davis (2000), Kyle Chea (2006), Shannon Butler (2013) and Domonic McDonald (2015).

It’s a history Donovan is proud of.

“I can’t speak for other schools, but I know that QC puts in a lot of time and effort into their students, and a lot of resources … a lot of things that we don’t necessarily see, but they’re there. A lot of opportunities they make available so that they can produce top-notch students.”

This year, the ABM runner-up, Khes Adderley was also a graduate of the institution. Along with Domonic and Khes, Q.C. also had another five ABM finalists — Farion Cooper, Cyerra Gilbert, Alexis Mackey, Keithan Smith and Charmelle Williams. Joining Donovan as a National Merit Scholars were Natalie Lester and Savannah Obregon.

“Honestly, my graduating class is really smart, so I knew we were going to do extremely well, so it’s not a surprise to me that we came out with so many Merit Scholars and with the ABM Scholar, especially as it’s my brother, because I know the work he’s done and the things he’s accomplished, so it wasn’t a surprise at all to be honest,” said Donovan.

The younger twin’s advice to his peers is to pay attention in class and to not mind friends.

“Everyone throws around the words study hard and that type of advice, but to me the foundation is set from in the classroom. You have to pay attention in class, and receive all the information that your teacher is trying to teach; do your homework by yourself, and not to cheat on homework. I know sometimes you forget and it’s kind of last minute and you kind of want your friends to help you and give you some answers or whatever, but it’s best to do everything yourself. To me paying attention in class makes studying a whole lot easier because instead of opening a book and not understanding a word that it’s saying, you at least have a grasp for it already so you just have to refresh your memory,” said Donovan.

Exactly one week after Domonic received the highest honor for a graduating high school senior, and receiving the ABM honor, he said he has had so much going on that he really hasn’t had the chance to soak in the title, but that he was getting there.

Both Domonic and Donovan describe themselves as sociable people, and said that as high school students, even though they did well, they made time to have social lives and engage in extracurricular activities. Domonic says he’s never been the kind of person to dedicate 150 percent of his time to studying, and likes to think of himself as “witty”.

Outside the books and the classroom Donovan says he’s a relaxed person who likes to go out and have fun with his friends. He also likes sports and is a huge basketball fan — specifically, he’s a Chicago Bulls fan. He says he does a little bit of everything, and would try to experience everything at least once.

They’ve also become mini celebrities, which Donovan found “flattering”.

“A lot of people now kind of know us … the other day, we ordered a pizza and the delivery guy came and he was like he saw us on the news. That was kind of cool, and flattering to see that people kind of know us and congratulate us.”

In the 22 years since the scholarship’s inception, seven females have been named ABMs and three of the recipients have studied at Johns Hopkins University.