8 • GCU TODAY
Aven Ault, 17
Hometown:
Bermuda Dunes, Calif.
Majors:
Nursing (Briana) and Biology (Brian)
Among the record six pairs of twins and 470
freshmen entering GCU’s Honors College this fall
are Briana Norheim and her one-minute-younger
brother, Brian. They have a yin and yang that is both
fiercely competitive and sweetly protective.
The competition shows up mostly on the
basketball court, where Briana and Brian have
bounced around together since they were old
enough to walk. Briana played on her brother’s team
in middle school because there was no girls’ team,
and both were multiyear captains of their respective
teams at Desert Christian Academy near their home
in Bermuda Dunes, Calif.
Both played piano and were in AP and honors
classes during high school. Briana also packed
in volleyball and cheer, while Brian was drawn to
ministry in the academy’s elementary school.
They each describe themselves as hard working,
but she is positive, energetic and persistent while he
is more strong-willed and dedicated.
Her favorite Bible verse is Galatians 6:9: “Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” His is Romans
8:37-39: “… neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“We complement each other very well,” Briana
said. “Whatever I’mweak in (math), he’s very strong
in, and whatever I’m strong in (English and history),
he’s not.”
Briana chose nursing but has not ruled out
becoming a teacher because she wants to make a
difference in people’s lives. Brian plans to become
a doctor and has heard about the hands-on
opportunities that pre-med students have in GCU’s
cadaver labs and on medical mission trips around
the world. He is interested in pursuing orthopedics
in mission work, if that’s where God calls him.
The twins have been in the same classes at the
same school all their lives, andwhen they began
to think about college, Briana initiallywas open to
being at a different place than her brother.
“One of themain reasons shewantsme to go
to the same college is to help her inmath,” Brian
joked. TowhichBriana replied, “God gaveme a
math tutor.”
And it’s not as if the twins won’t know
anyone at GCU: one quarter of their
32-member graduating class is enrolled, too.
Still, watching out for each other will be a priority.
“Briana is a strong woman of faith, and if I need her
she’ll be there for me. She would drop whatever she’s
doing,” he said. “I’mblessed to have a twin sister.”
The GCU factor:
“Our parents are very secure in
how the campus is and with how affordable it is, and I
think GCU will provide more opportunities than other
colleges could provide,” Brianna said. Added Brian,
“I have a great opportunity to do well as I prepare for
med school and become a doctor.”
Hometown:
Fresno, Calif.
Major:
Biomedical engineering
From the moment the Ault family stopped
by campus to visit a friend and hopped
aboard the GCU welcome wagon (guided
tour, purple T-shirts, free tickets to a men’s
basketball game), they were sold.
“It was a whole cool adventure,” said Aven
Ault, whose family rolled through Phoenix in
their RV on the way home from a trip to Texas
a couple of years ago and found themselves
at a boisterous Arena event.
The thrill continues now for Ault, the Class
of 2015 valedictorian at Clovis East High,
where he also was the top player on the
boys’ tennis team. And he’s recruited several
friends from central California to GCU,
including his roommate, Trevor McIntosh.
Phoenix’s heat might be an adjustment: Ault
spent the summer at mile-highHume Lake
Christian Camp in California, leading devotions
and recreation for hundreds of young
campers. Serving the Lord always has been
important to this son of missionary parents,
who grewup in Spainmaking friendswith the
locals and becoming fluent in Spanish.
The GCU factor:
The family loved campus
so much that Ault’s stepmom, Colleen,
applied for a job and was hired as a regional
admissions representative in California.
Briana and Brian Norheim, 18
