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NATCHEZ — They say good things often come in threes and the daughters of Sanita and Mitchell Gutter, Faith, Hope and Joy, are an example of that.

They are a triple threat when it comes to Natchez Adams School District athletics and are three times the fun in the classroom, according to their teachers. The triplets all three play basketball and Hope and Faith run on the track team. Last year, they each one third place in state in a relay, Hope said. Basketball has always been a favorite pastime of the Gutters since they were old enough to hold a ball.

Soon, the seniors will begin a new chapter of their lives at college.

Faith said the realization that they will all be graduating soon is “bittersweet.”

“When we were younger, everyone said it’ll go by fast, and I never understood until now just how fast it would be. It’s just crazy to think that this is actually my last year here.”

They each said they were excited to embark on that next chapter together. All three are members of the college-level Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society through their dual enrollment at Copiah-Lincoln Community College and will be graduating as Superintendent scholars for Natchez Early College.

They will each graduate with Associate’s degrees and plan to continue their education at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

While triplets are rare, occurring in about one in every 10,000 births, the young women said they don’t believe in twin telepathy.

“But there are a lot of coincidences,” Hope said.

Faith and Hope, who are identical twins, are both interested in social work. Hope wants to be involved in Child Welfare and Faith in Juvenile Justice, Hope said.

Their fraternal twin sister Joy, on the other hand, wants to study journalism, she said.

“At a young age, I was already interested in reading and writing, and as an athlete too I’m thinking of combining those two passions and going into sports journalism,” Joy said.

Hope said her passion is to “advocate for those who can’t do it for themselves to help them find a voice,” particularly children.

Similarly, Faith said she is interested in how social environments affect emotional behaviors and wants to help children learn to cope with those behaviors.

“Basically, I just want to help those in unfortunate situations,” she said.

In addition to Phi Theta Kappa, the girls are also members of the National Beta Club and were recently part of Natchez Youth Leadership. They are also dancers and perform on the praise dance team of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church.

“We may argue or sometimes get tired of each other, but at the same time we understand each other’s struggles and work with each other to get through it,” Hope said.