REGION — After dropping out of high school nearly 50 years ago, Vista residents and twin sisters Carol Baker and Carolyn Baker-Lowery finally received their high school diplomas together through MiraCosta College’s Adult High School program.
Raised in south central Los Angeles, the 64-year-old Baker twins were hardly ever apart.
“If one went somewhere, the other one went too,” Carol said.
Their mother owned a Winchell’s Donut House, where they would help fold boxes when they were young before working the service counter on Friday and Saturday nights as they got older.
Over the years, the twins realized that things went sideways when they were separated starting in high school.
When Carolyn found out she was pregnant, she left home to live in a program with other pregnant teens. As it turned out, Carol was also pregnant around the same time as her slightly older twin. After their children were born within months of each other, the two ended up going to different high schools.
“Every time we were separated, something bad would happen,” Carolyn said.
Eventually, after struggling through school and feeling misunderstood by their teachers, they decided to drop out and move into an apartment together.
The sisters would go on to live with each other on and off over the next few decades and currently live together in Vista, where they both first moved to in the mid-1980s.
Carolyn began working as an in-home childcare provider and preschool teacher while Carol became a social worker.
While excited about the new job opportunity, Carol struggled with comprehending various documents through her training, finding herself reading them over and over again just to understand.
Thankfully her boss was understanding and not only helped her but suggested that she get tested for a potential learning disability.
Carol eventually learned she had attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, both of which contributed to her schoolwork struggles as a child. Her twin Carolyn later found out that she was dyslexic, too.
Unfortunately for the sisters, there was little awareness about ADHD, dyslexia and other learning differences when they were children. They were often accused by their teachers of being lazy and assumed they weren’t smart. In reality, the twin sisters were struggling with real disorders that prevented them from learning in the same way as their peers.
Now equipped with a better understanding of her needs, Carol found a renewed passion for returning to school. She connected with Student Accessibility Services at MiraCosta College, an office that supports students with various disabilities, and discovered that the college’s Adult High School program was the right fit for her.
When her health took a bad turn, Carol moved back in with her sister Carolyn, who began to notice her sister was staying on the computer nearly all day working on schoolwork. She would even fall asleep at the computer.
“I thought, what in the world is wrong with her,” Carolyn said.
When Carolyn realized her sister was in pursuit of her high school diploma, she immediately jumped on board to do the same. After all, she couldn’t let her sister leave her behind.
Although the two still struggled, they had help from teachers and counselors every step of the way.
“They helped us the way we should have been helped all those years ago,” Carol said.
Not only did the faculty at MiraCosta help them to earn their diplomas, but the twins also helped encourage each other to keep going. If one of the sisters got a little farther ahead in school, she would wait for the other to catch up so that they could graduate together.
“I don’t think it could have happened without each other,” Carol said. “We challenge each other – we would ask each other how far we were going to make it, and that kept us going.”
The two finally donned their caps and gowns and walked together as high school graduates during the school’s commencement ceremony on May 25.
“We were on journey together, and the end was so rewarding,” Carolyn said. “From the womb to the tomb, we’ll always be together.”
