Imagine starting a new course at college and finding out that there is someone else in your class with the same name as you.

How uncommon would it seem to find, at a college as small as Missouri Southern, that there was another person with your exact same name?

This happened to Kevin Nelson...and Kevin Nelson.

One of the Nelsons is a pitcher for the Lions baseball team, while the other is a transfer from Mesa Community College in Arizona, who plays defensive tackle for the Lions football team.

"I just met him this semester," said pitcher Nelson. "I had no idea who he was."

Even stranger, both ended up in the same class together.

"We're in Biology together," said Nelson. "I play baseball and he plays football."

When it came to the required grade checks for student athletes, Nelson said there were some problems.

"I've been getting his grade checks and I don't know if he's been getting mine," he said. "Last semester I had all his classes and grades and the coach was pretty pissed about that."

The other Nelson, a junior business administration major, was also unaware of the other's existence until he started his biology class.

"I have him in one of my classes," said Nelson. "The football players call me 'Chief' out here so that's what my instructor goes by now."

Now, try and imagine if there was not only one other student at your college with the your name, but four more.

At Southern, there are five students enrolled with the name Jennifer Smith. Most were unaware of the others who shared their same name.

"When I go to register they have to ask for my social security number," said one of the Smiths, a senior art education major. "They get me confused with the other people."

Two of the Jennifers are in the same program at Southern.

"There's another girl in the nursing department," said another of the Smiths, a junior nursing major, "but I didn't know there was that many."

Some of the Smiths found out about the others through off-campus businesses they visit.

"I knew there were others because we go to the same dentist," said the fourth Smith, a freshman secondary education major.

"There's one that banks at my bank," said the last Smith, a senior business administration major with an emphasis in management, "and her mother's name is the same as my mother's name."

There were 33 matches with the same name found in Southern's master list of students. Some included common names like Jennifer Johnson, Jason Williams, and Susan Schmidt, while other pairs were found with less commonplace names such as Seth Baldwin, James Dake, Anthony Nguyen, and Billy D. Williams.

"I never knew there was another Daniel Johnston," said Daniel Johnston, a senior German/sociology major. "It's an odd coincidence."

So the next time students listen to the roll on the first day of classes, they shouldn't be surprised when their name is called and their hand isn't the only one waving in the air.

Published by The Chart on 2-18-00.

Article's Posting at the Chart's Website