College can be a fresh start for students. While some people go to the same school as their high school friends, others show up to campus without familiar faces.

Lucky for Illinois gymnastics junior Karen Howell and freshman Mallory Mizuki, their connection started in the gym.

Howell hails from Sterling Heights, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, and Mizuki grew up in Shelby Charter Township, Michigan. The two towns are about a 15-minute drive from each other, and Mizuki and Howell both competed at the same gymnastics club, Olympia Gymnastics Academy, during their youth gymnastics careers.

Howell committed two years before Mizuki and is happy to share the campus with her.

“It was really exciting when she committed here,” Howell said. “I’m two years older than her so it was awesome to know I’d have someone from home on the team with me.”

Howell was focused on continuing her gymnastics career at a Big Ten school, so Illinois was a good spot for her to continue her education. Mizuki competed with Howell for several years and had a similar goal of competing in a Big Ten college.

As a Michigander, Mizuki hadn’t heard much about Illinois before Howell committed but has since embraced living in the state. She can even be found wearing a grey sweatshirt with “HOME” written in orange letters —with the “O” in the shape of Illinois.

Mizuki, who’s two years younger than Howell, looked up to Howell growing up and stayed in touch with her after she began her career at Illinois.

“I always had somebody to look up to,” Mizuki said. “She was kind of, like, an inspiration to me, and it was kind of like having a big sister.”

Mizuki said Howell’s decision to attend Illinois slightly influenced her decision to attend Illinois, and she found it helpful to be able to ask Howell about Illinois as she searched for colleges. It also helped to have a familiar face on the team when she ultimately decided to attend Illinois.

“It did (sway my decision) a little bit,” Mizuki said. “I was, like, really happy to have somebody else to be here, so that was a positive.”

Since they’ve been on campus, Mizuki said she feels she’s gotten closer to Howell and said the college environment has been a better fit for them.

“It’s actually a little bit different,” Mizuki said. “I feel like in club it was more serious, and we kind of, like, grew up since then. So now it just seems like we’re closer, and it’s just a really better environment.”

Howell said that although they’re like sisters now, that wasn’t always the case.

“We didn’t always get along,” Howell said. “We’re really close, so it was almost like having a little sister. So I was like bickering with my little sister but now we’re here and we absolutely love each other.”

@claire_obrien43

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