They will stand in different places and receive their diplomas at different points in the commencement ceremonies this week.
Heather Abrahams, Heather Claggett and Heather Ridenhower — the three Heathers in the Lake Braddock High Class of 2005 — are linked by their first name, but have had very different experiences during their years at the school.
Claggett was a cheerleader, Ridenhower a dancer and Abrahams an underground punk rocker. Abrahams’ mother got married when she was a freshman; Claggett’s parents split up that same year. Ridenhower loves to shop so much her friends call her the "Fifth Avenue Barbie"; Abrahams still misses the reliability of the school uniforms that she had in primary school.
Although the adolescent struggles to fit in and develop an identity hit them all at different times, the three said that it is those experiences that they will carry with them as they leave Lake Braddock.
"A lot of people have the pressure to fit in. I know I did when I first came," said Abrahams.
"That’s why I love senior year so much. Everyone’s found themselves. I’m sure everyone goes through that phase where you’re trying to fit in," said Claggett whose sister Kelly is a freshman at the school. "Do what you want to do, don’t always follow people."
ABRAHAMS DIDN'T want to be at Lake Braddock at all. A graduate of Nativity Catholic School in Springfield, she attended Robinson Secondary for most of her freshman year. When her mother married and they moved to Burke Centre, she transferred to Lake Braddock, although she had been briefly enrolled at Paul VI High in Fairfax.
Many of her friends from Nativity were at Paul VI, and not having them around was a struggle for Abrahams.
"Leaving all your friends, making new friends twice freshman year, when you’re not really happy about being there in the first place," she said.
At first, said Abrahams, she tried to be in the "in-crowd," but after a while just gave up trying.
"I already had friends. I wasn’t trying to find replacement friends," she said. "I’m perfectly content being by myself. I’m kind of a loner now, so, oh well."
Although she admitted she did some "self-alienation," Abrahams said she still hangs out with those friends from her younger years. They travel a lot, she said, recently spending the weekend in Ocean City, Md., where she got her belly button pierced. It will be her seventh piercing, counting lip, tongue and two in each ear.
"I gave in. That’s the one I said I’m never doing," she said about her new piercing.
Abrahams said as she looks back at her experiences at Lake Braddock and prepares to attend Virginia Tech to study veterinary sciences, she can appreciate her time at the school.
"I can’t say it was the worst high school to go to. I know some of the things I did, I did it to myself, self-alienation. I still have a lot of friends here, so I won’t regret it."
A SELF-DESCRIBED "people person," Ridenhower said she never lacked for conversations. She lives across the street from the school, and began at Lake Braddock in seventh grade.
"I’m one of those people, if I don’t know anyone, I’ll make sure by the end of the day I know who they are," she said. Infamous among her friends for her love of shopping, wearing high heels every day, and the color pink, Ridenhower hopes to blend those passions by studying fashion merchandising in college. She will attend Northern Virginia Community College this fall.
"I really like fashion, and I’m buying clothes, what more can you get?" she said.
Ridenhower danced with the Lake Braddock Varsity Dance Team for three years, and teaches elementary students at Studio One.
"When you go out on the field, even if it’s for five seconds or a minute, it’s a thrill. I don’t get nervous at all," she said.
While not as vivacious at Ridenhower, Claggett said she was able to find her niche by joining the cheerleading squad.
"It gets hard because it’s a whole bunch of girls together for like six months, and you get really annoyed with each other, but we’re a tight group of girls," she said. Claggett said her fellow six seniors on the squad were best friends, and that when they decided they had had enough this spring, they all quit the squad together, a controversial move.
"It got too stressful, and we all decided we couldn’t deal with it anymore," she explained.
Ridenhower will also attend Virginia Tech this fall, to study either business or psychology. Leaving home for the first time will be hard on her, she said, as it will mean leaving behind her younger sister Kelly, and her father Stuart.
"We’re a really close-knit family, so … I can see myself coming home a lot. During the divorce, we had to be there for each other," she said. "My dad is like one of my best friends."
The three Heathers were casual acquaintances rather than close friends, but each said they appreciated the differences between them. Claggett and Abrahams laughed that they were both going to the same college. The three also agreed that when it comes to high school, they all had certain experiences in common: finding a place, hoping for the future and holding close to good friends, no matter where they found them.
"I’m glad I got to do something in high school, be a part of something. I wasn’t just out on my own," Claggett said.