• Julian Cavazos •
• Originally published June 19, 2009 at 7:12 p.m., updated June 19, 2009 at 10:50 p.m.

• A Grandmother's Perspective

  Don and Dakota's grandmother, Roma Preiss, said she was never asked to choose sides with either grandchild.

  "They were really competitive, but they supported each other the whole time. I never had to choose between them, and ...

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A Grandmother's Perspective

Don and Dakota's grandmother, Roma Preiss, said she was never asked to choose sides with either grandchild.

"They were really competitive, but they supported each other the whole time. I never had to choose between them, and it's a good thing I didn't," Preiss, of Schroeder, said.

She found it surprising that Don changed his graduation speech after seeing his grandfather, Arliss, cry in the front row as they passed flowers to their mothers.

"He started his speech saying, 'I'm going to change the format of my speech because my grandfather is a very big man.' To see tears in his eyes kind of made me feel he is really emotional."

To learn about other valedictorians and salutatorians in the region, see Pages E3 and E4.

GOLIAD - They were like brother and sister. They did everything together.

Both were in National Honor Society, the Spanish Club and the Science Club while at Goliad High School.

They ate lunch together.

When he was playing football, she was head cheerleader.

And when he was valedictorian, she was salutatorian of a class of 94 seniors.

This is what life had been like for double first cousins Don Barnett and Dakota Barnett.

Their mothers married brothers. Don and Dakota, both 18, are eight months apart, and are also the youngest in their families.

Don has two older sisters. Dakota had three older brothers.

Now the two GHS graduates are going separate ways for college this fall. They will be living 300 miles apart, and it will be tough.

Dakota will study nursing at Victoria College, while Don will study mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.

"It's just going to be so different," Dakota said. " It's hard to see us separate. That's why I broke down graduation night, just realizing that this was one of the last nights I was with my class, and especially with Don leaving to go to Dallas."

Don remembers all the good times they had in and out of class growing up.

"I can remember going on camping trips and sleeping in each other's tents," Don said, as he looked at Dakota. "She's like my same age, exactly. We both took the same college biology class. In calculus, we sat right next to each other, always checking our answers and see what we did wrong."

The cousins, even though related, still remained competitive academically throughout high school.

The two cousins switched back and forth being the No. 1 spot throughout high school.

"Instantly, all I cared about was what Dakota made," Don said. "Sometimes I'd have to go ask her friends."

It got emotional at times.

"He's made me cry a couple of times," Dakota said, "but it's always been more of a love than hate relationship."

Don's parents and Dakota's parents also became lovingly competitive with each other.

Both cousins come from a line of valedictorians and salutatorians. Don's mother, Tamera Barnett, was salutatorian from Goliad High school in 1979, graduated cum laude from Victoria College in 1981, and then magna cum laude from University of Houston in 1983.

Dakota's two older brothers, Dalton and Ryan, were each Goliad High School valedictorians in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

It got competitive.

"(Don and Dakota) have always been competitive, but my sister and I and Don and Richard have been competitive also, so it's been an undermining competition," Tamera said. "Even when Dakota and Don didn't feel competitive, we did as parents and siblings. Our families have been very close."

At graduation, both Don and Dakota cried on stage in front of their entire class as they held each other in their arms.

The principal had to wait to proceed because of their crying, Tamera said.

"Dakota never stopped crying," said Rhonda Barnett, Dakota's mother. She realized they're finally not going to be together."

As Don and Dakota prepare for college, they're realizing they will have to rely more on themselves for motivation.

"I had Don to lean on," Dakota said. " Now I really don't have anybody. I'm going to have to grow up and do stuff by myself. This is the stage in life where you have be independent."

Since both say they studied a lot in high school, also they're hoping to be a little more laid back in college.

"In high school, I was pretty much a perfectionist," Don said. "It got overwhelming, constantly trying to do things perfectly. Why not just chill and take things a little slower? I'm still going to keep my goal to get a degree and do something productive in life, but life's also about having fun."

Though Don and Dakota will live farther apart, that will in turn make them closer, Tamera said.

"They're going to appreciate the things they've taken for granted," Tamera said. " It's' going to try them because they miss each other. I know they do. It's going to be really good for them."

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