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Nathan and Nicholas Mills, Part Two: Fostering Growth
10/13/2020 10:10:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field
This is part two of Mills twins' feature. To read part one, click here.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - When Nathan and Nicholas Mills made the 30-minute drive to move into the Purdue Fort Wayne student housing this fall, there was one thing that stuck out to them.
They finally got to have their own bedrooms.
Up until college, the boys had to share their bedroom not only with each other, but with their two other brothers, Jack and Ryan.
This was normal for them, at least for the last six years. Ryan is six years old, but he, like several other children throughout the Mills' lives, came to their home first as a foster child.
The twins were in the middle of a cross country meet in the eighth grade when their parents received a call from the hospital. It didn't take long for the Mills to get over to the hospital to pick up their new baby. It was so quick, in fact, that the twins were still wearing their cross country uniforms when they arrived at the hospital to meet their new brother.
After three years in the foster system, the Mills adopted Ryan, who became the second adopted child in the family. Their sister, Leigha was also adopted, but she is much closer to Nathan and Nicholas' age.
The Mills family has been a common family for the foster system to lean on, as there have been enough kids through the home to create their own cross country team.
At one point, there were nine children in the house, including the twins.
When their family started the process of fostering children, they typically fostered kids close in age to the twins. As they grew up, however, they started bringing in newborns and infants.
"It's always starting over then," Nicholas said. "It's the long nights of staying up with them and watching them."
The challenges with fostering children extends from their parents to the twins. With as many as nine kids in the house, Nathan and Nicholas had to help out too.
"It brought a lot of responsibility to us as the oldest," Nicholas said. "We had to spend a lot of time watching over them when our parents were working."
When it came to their fostered siblings, responsibilities were never limited for Nathan and Nicholas. If there was a diaper that needed to be changed when they got home from school, or a child needed to be entertained, they were there to help share the load.
The decision to foster was never a unilateral decision by their parents. Before any new child would enter the home, there was a discussion with the family to make sure it was the right choice.
"They always checked with us to make sure that it's a family effort to bring people into the home," Nathan said. "They don't want us to feel left out. It's always been a family decision."
While their parents always discuss it with the family first, it never seems to even be a question.
"We're always open to it," Nathan said. "We've always been in for a challenge. It gives us a new experience every day."
About five years after picking up their brother from the hospital in their cross country uniforms, they made the decision to don a new uniform.
The twins had not considered competing at the collegiate level, even though their intent to attend college was never in question.
At the end of their senior cross country season, Nathan and Nicholas led their cross country team to the state meet, which had not been done before at Columbia City.
"When that all ended and we realized that's it, that was when I decided that I wanted to continue," Nathan said. "I wasn't ready to give it up just yet."
Both of their parents attended the school then known as IPFW, so Purdue Fort Wayne was always on their college radar. Once they decided that they wanted athletics to play a role in their future, they contacted the coaching staff at Purdue Fort Wayne to begin the process.
"I think having a twin during this time especially helps," Nicholas said. "During the summer it's all on your own, so we were able to still go out and train together. Having that person to compete against and make it through those workouts with makes it easier than for most."
Now that they are on campus, they are working toward their first season of collegiate competition for cross country and track and field.
"It makes it so easy being around teammates that are as motivated as we are," Nathan said. "We want to go out and prove to our teammates that we're here, we're not going to slack off, that we can compete with them."
Academics haven't taken a back seat for the high school valedictorians, even though athletics have become a larger piece of the puzzle. Nathan is majoring in actuarial science and Nicholas is majoring in accounting. As the two fully transition to college life, they find value in having each other along for the ride.
"Having Nathan there along with me these first few weeks of college has been nice because we have that sense of home still," Nicholas said. "It's not like our entire family is gone now. We still have somebody that we've had all these experiences with. That's definitely made it a lot easier."
Naturally, Nicholas' brother agrees.
"Just having that support, it makes it feel like we're not going very far," Nathan said. "Even though we're not in any classes together, it eases that transition."
~ Feel the Rumble ~
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