Few mothers would consider going to the same school and declaring the same major as their child. Even fewer would graduate on the same day, but Juanita and Josalynn Anliker don’t like to follow the crowd.Juanita and her daughter Josalynn are both seniors in elementary education at Iowa State. They also are both student teaching this semester and will graduate in May. Juanita is at Johnson Elementary in Spencer where she is working in the first-grade through sixth-grade resource room. Josalynn is at Moore Elementary in Des Moines, working with the fifth grade.”They have a good relationship,” said Jamin, Juanita’s son and Josalynn’s brother. “It’s more like they have a good-friend relationship than a best-friend relationship. They weren’t constantly around each other, and yet they still did things together.”Jamin, junior in art and design, is following the family by attending Iowa State.Josalynn said she and her mother have always had a strong relationship, and she felt she could go to her mother for anything growing up. She said both her parents were supportive when she wanted to open a dance studio at the age of 15.Juanita said she became interested in elementary education after her time volunteering in her children’s classrooms while they were growing up.When she began working as a special education teacher assistant, Juanita said she became engrossed in helping and educating children.”I saw what could be done with children that have a hard time learning and wanted to help all the time,” Juanita said.Josalynn is completing her fifth year at Iowa State, while Juanita has only been on campus for two years. Juanita said she transferred to Iowa State after attending several different community colleges.”I was ahead of my mom in classes,” Josalynn said. “I saved all my books from my classes that she would need and gave them to her.”Along with the textbooks, Juanita said she also received some free advice from her daughter about projects and homework.”She would help me out whenever she could,” Juanita said. “She was always a great help.”Josalynn has combined her elementary education major with dance during the last few semesters at Iowa State. She said she would like to use her double major by opening a dance studio after she has taught for a few years.Another skill Josalynn has added to her teaching degree is as a professional storyteller. She learned about the art through a class she took on campus.”I had been all over the state telling stories when someone told me that I should get paid to do this,” she said. “I had to talk with my mom and see if I should.”Unfortunately, Josalynn has had to put her storytelling on hiatus after she received too many appearance requests for her schedule.Josalynn said she had invited her mother to live off campus with her, but Juanita said she would rather live in the dorms.”I lived in Buchanan [Hall] during the week and went to class,” Juanita said. “Then, on the weekends I would go home to be with my husband.”Juanita said she would travel three and one-half hours one way to be with her husband, Jay, who is also an ISU graduate in animal science and agronomy.