For Amanda Savitt, it's not living away from home for the first time that's hard. It's being several states away from her identical twin sister.

Savitt, a freshman from Sharon, Mass., says she and her twin sister, Stephanie, were so difficult to tell apart as babies that their mother would paint their toenails different colors to distinguish them. The two have a close relationship and share many similarities aside from just their appearances.

But when it came time to select a college, their individual academic interests led them to different places. Amanda wanted to pursue business at Quinnipiac, while her sister chose to study education at the University of Tampa.

Savitt says it just came down to finding the right fit. She liked Quinnipiac for its size and academic options, not to mention the campus. "Definitely the campus is beautiful," she says. "I felt the most comfortable here."

Savitt, who is enrolled in the School of Business, is considering a major in marketing. "I love my business classes. They're really interesting," she says. Her SB 101 course includes the online business simulation game "Mike's Bikes," in which students break into small teams and compete to best manage a virtual business.

It helps that Savitt has had some real-life business experience. In high school, she had a part-time job at a local car dealership, working in several positions, including as an office assistant, receptionist in the showroom and cashier in the maintenance area.

"The experience was great--seeing how a business works. It was really fun and I learned a lot," she says. Savitt says it was especially interesting to observe how the dealership handled the recent economic downturn.

Another skill she learned through her job was time management, which she's putting to good use at Quinnipiac. "Time management is a huge thing in college," she says. Savitt says she tries to focus on her schoolwork and club meetings during the week and to go out only on weekends.

Savitt enjoys taking the campus shuttle into downtown New Haven and shopping at the nearby mall in Milford. On campus, she has already joined several clubs, including Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, the Student Programming Board and the business student group Students in Free Enterprise.

Savitt looked at eight other colleges besides Quinnipiac, but says the choice was easy. "I love it here. I knew from the minute I stepped onto campus."