Twin brothers Derek and Dylan Pfeifer find a perfect match at UNK

KEARNEY – Derek and Dylan Pfeifer do almost everything together.

If you see one of them on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus, there’s a good chance he’s with the other. As fraternal twins, looks are about the only thing that separates the two.

“I feel very lucky,” Dylan said of their brotherly bond. “It’s kind of like a guaranteed friend and somebody I can talk to.”

Derek agrees.

“Being a twin is nice because it’s like a built-in best friend,” he said. “But it’s also tough because Dylan and I have always had to compete against each other. That’s the worst part of being a twin.”

At Central City High School, the Pfeifers were involved in the same activities – football, basketball, track, show choir, musicals, DECA and National Honor Society. They were both class officers, and Derek narrowly edged his brother to earn the title of salutatorian.

When the time came to choose a college, Dylan was the first to commit to UNK.

“My heart was set on Kearney long before scholarships or anything like that, but scholarships definitely brought me to Kearney,” he said. “I love the size of UNK. The classes here have a great student-to-faculty ratio and I can be involved in a variety of activities.”

Derek took a serious look at Peru State College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before deciding to join his brother in Kearney.

“I didn’t really want to go with Dylan, because I wanted to split up a little bit,” he explained. “But looking back at it now, I know I made the right decision. I probably would have regretted it if I went to a different college than him.”

“You would have missed me,” Dylan quickly added with a grin.

FUTURE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

So far, everything has worked out perfectly, according to the brothers, who are taking the exact same classes this semester.

They live together in the Centennial Towers West residence hall as part of the Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP) Living Community. That made the transition to college “really easy,” since the 19-year-olds have always shared a room.

“We don’t fight at all,” Dylan said. “I don’t know the last time we did.”

“If we do, it’s something very small,” Derek added.

The UNK freshmen are members of the Honors Program and KHOP, a pipeline program designed to grow the state’s health care workforce by recruiting and training students from rural Nebraska who are committed to practicing in these communities as professionals.

Both brothers received full-tuition scholarships to attend UNK, where they’re majoring in biology. Dylan is part of the pre-physician assistant program and Derek is pursuing pre-dentistry. They view health care as an opportunity to positively impact people’s lives and make a difference in rural Nebraska.

“I think small-town communities have such a strong connection and the people in small towns just care more about each other and their community,” Dylan said.

Peggy Abels, director of UNK Health Sciences, called the brothers excellent role models and outstanding young men with a “strong motivation to help others.”

“As part of the KHOP program, Dylan and Derek have committed to practicing health care in rural Nebraska. They value rural communities and want to give back to a rural community in the future,” she said. “They also value relationships and sincerely want to make a positive impact in the lives of their patients. Dylan and Derek are both academically talented students, but their leadership, care and compassion for others will make them an asset to any rural community.”

Along with the full-tuition scholarships, members of the KHOP Learning Community receive a $2,000 room waiver. The residential learning community provides additional support and guidance for students and allows them to network with health care providers, tour medical facilities and form close relationships with classmates.

“KHOP is a wonderful place to meet people with the same interests as you,” Dylan said. “I’ve met tons of people through the learning community who I can reach out to 10 years down the road or refer a patient to. I’m creating those professional connections right now with people who have the same goals as me.”

FRATERNITY BROTHERS

Dylan and Derek both plan to serve as KHOP mentors next year. They’re also members of the UNK Health Science Club and Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

The latter was Derek’s idea. He knew he wanted to join a fraternity in college and chose Delta Tau Delta because they’re “genuine guys.” Then he convinced Dylan to attend a recruitment event.

“When I met these guys, it was kind of like, ‘Yeah, I want to be part of this,’” Dylan explained. “These guys are really great people, very genuine people. And now I don’t regret it one bit.”

Derek currently serves as the fraternity’s director of recruitment and Dylan is the director of standards. The brothers attended Delta Tau Delta’s Compass Gamma leadership development program in New Braunfels, Texas, earlier this year and were part of the Region 13 Emerge training in Omaha, where the UNK chapter was recognized as the best in the nation.

Zane Grizzle, president of the UNK fraternity, uses words like dedicated, reliable and intelligent to describe the Pfeifer brothers.

“Our motto is ‘Committed to Lives of Excellence.’ It is hard to find a better example of a brother who lives up to this motto to the degree that they do,” Grizzle said. “They are available for the whole chapter, there for those in need. They are excellent leaders who were respected the moment they joined.”

Always positive and friendly, Dylan and Derek definitely like to stay busy. They also participate in numerous intramural activities – flag football, volleyball, broomball and Spikeball, to name a few – and Derek represented the Honors Program during the Alpha Phi sorority’s annual King of Hearts male pageant last fall.

The brothers were both named to the dean’s list during their first semester on campus, setting an example for their younger sisters Hannah and Hailey, who also happen to be twins.