Farmingdale twins, Jackson and Lily Defendini, motivating each other on and off the field

Hello my name is Lily Defendini and my name is Jackson Defendini and we're both twins here at Farmingdale High School but I'm actually a minute older. The way that we grew up is we were put in many different sports when we were children and our parents when we got to probably about seventh grade I would say had us pick one or two that were our favorite and that's what we continued doing. I chose swim and dive and it's been my life ever since. I've been swimming on varsity since I've been in eighth grade. It's two hours every day after school, but with the team it feels like you spend so much more time with them. The girls really become like your sisters on the team. All their bags are actually sitting in my car right now because I drive them everywhere. We text, we call, we go for food. The girls on the program are really what make the program itself. I won't say that swimming itself is my favorite thing, but the people really make the place. Yeah, and being a part of the lacrosse and football team here at Farmingdale High School is just a privilege. Really, the football team with Coach Buddy Krumenacher, I've actually only played my senior year this year, but I know I had to go through high school and I had to play for at least one year for Coach Krumenacher because the stories I've heard as going up through freshman through senior year through high school, I know I had to give it at least one year. And it really has been an amazing year. I've made so many new friendships on the team and like my sister would swim and dive. We all go out for food. We call all the time, text. It's really a great time with them and the whole team brother experience in the locker room is really incredible. Same thing on the lacrosse team. I've been a varsity lacrosse member for the past four years and now I'm a captain this year and it's been a really nice privilege to play for Coach Dunn and he's also someone that I really look up to and he's really put a mark on me and the rest of my peers and my teammates so it's just so much fun being an athlete here Farmingdale High School. There are nine periods in our school day and we had eight of them together so we spent a lot of time and our teachers usually alphabetized us so we sat right next to each other most of the time or right in front of behind each other. I would think I think that we were able to push each other just by the close proximity. He also pushed me a lot in the gym. I was not a frequent gym goer. He would bring me down to our basement where we have some gym equipment and he'd make me lift until i probably couldn't even lift a pencil by the time we were done with it which i think really just um made us closer as twins and i think that a lot of like me helping him with some of his school work as well um we kind of found different ways to help each other and i think that the ways that we helped each other really just made us super close and brought us together what subjects did you help your brother in the most um all of of them. Oh, it's not wrong. Okay, well that's a good segue into what you both hope to do for college. Yeah, so I hope to study double major in business administration and international relations with either a minor in philosophy or economics. I hope to pursue a four-year degree and double degree, and then I plan to go to law school after to become a corporate trial attorney. And I plan on applying to the United States Naval Academy where I could give five years of service after my four years of learning how to become a midshipman and become a Navy officer. So and then also I'd like to extend on the extra five years in serving this nation and to give back what it's given me in my 17 years of being alive and I really appreciate everything I've everything that's been going on in my life and I really want to give back and I feel like the skills I've learned throughout high school I I can definitely give back. So why the Navy for you? Definitely. Ever since a couple guys, a guy who lives down the street from us, his name is Trevor. And he currently attends the Naval Academy. And he's told me stories about it. And it's really incredible, the stories that I've learned from him. And I had to get down there myself to see it. I went down. I saw it, fell in love immediately. And then I went to the summer seminar program. And again, that just solidified my love for the Navy. And I knew I had to find a career path that's going to allow me to serve in the United States Navy. And I feel like the United States Naval Academy is a great way on that path. It's been great growing up with my sister. You know, not everyone gets a twin, especially that our father's a superintendent in the school district. But it's definitely, it's had like some challenges, definitely, especially when we were younger. But as the years went on, we've gotten closer and closer. And we've understood each other more now since we're older and take a lot of the same courses. so we understand the load that we each have and we try instead of coming instead of avoiding each other we come together with our problems and we work them out together in order to keep a nice schedule together that's balanced so that's how we spend a lot of our time together and I remember we always sit in our dining room we always have books out everywhere just getting homework done and eating dinner at the same time but it's really just been great like growing up with my sister but watching him grow into like the person he is today it's like two different like him from freshman year and him from senior year are two incredibly different people and watching that change has just been like a privilege for me um going into freshman year with all the love in the world you were a bit of a mess but watching you become the leader the motivator that you are today has been an absolute honor in my life Definitely feel the same way about her, she's really the way we came in the freshman year I remember her first AP environmental test she was a mess and she got like a 1, like above the class average too and it was just definitely new and I watched her now like definitely she definitely cares so much about her grades but she really comes at those challenges better now and she really has different approaches with and she's really grown up and it's been awesome to watch like her entire road and her as a swimmer too and getting better every every year it's really just great having a twin sister in high school I wish everyone could have it it's a blessing