It’s April, and if you were born in this month, you’re friends likely remark on your passion and high energy. Or maybe your teachers and coaches notice how much your determination drives you to perform. These are the traits you have because you’re an Aries.

There are a number of zodiac calendars, but the most popular in the U.S. focuses on the sun sign, which is determined by the position of the sun in a particular constellation at the time of one’s birth.

A Sagitarius sun sign, Milkii Tigro, said. “There isn’t a time when I won’t mention my sun sign,” Tigro said, “if zodiac signs are even brought up, I have to tell people that I’m a Sagittarius because I just have so much pride. I love being a Sagittarius.”

Sagittariuses are known for being very adventurous and outspoken, and Tigro strongly identifies with these traits. Sagittariuses love to travel; Tigro loves to travel–she even spent a semester abroad at the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki.

Tigro said, “I feel like I connect with [my zodiac sign] a lot.”

The sun sign is the most well-known sign in astrology. While this is the sign most people are familiar with, there is also the moon sign and rising sign. Simply put, the sun sign represents one’s motivations and ego, the moon represents one’s emotional inner self, and the rising sign represents the energy one exudes into the world. When a person shares their big three, it is their sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign.

Senior Quenby Wilson, a self-defined “hobby astrologist,” strongly resonates with their big three–specifically when expressing themself artistically.

Wilson said, “I was talking to my art teacher because I have this thing where I’ll have the most aspirational, ambitious plans for an art project, and then I won’t rush or work super hard to get it done. And then somehow it just all works out right before.”

Wilson’s teacher also attributes this ability to follow through on artistic feats to their big three.

“My art teacher was like, ‘I wonder if there’s something in your chart because that’s so weird.’ And so, because my Scorpio sun is a water sign…I’m very much creative, going with the flow, and have a lot of crazy [ideas] out there. But then the Taurus moon grounds me, which allows my creativity to manifest itself pretty easily.”

Tigro’s big three consists of her Sagittarius sun, Leo rising sun, and her Libra moon sign. “I see [my big three] all the time.” Friends of Tigro see her Leo rising sun in the warmth she exudes and her Libra moon is very apparent in her relationship-oriented nature, communicativeness, and artisticness.

Both Tigro and Wilson see their big three reflected in themselves. Similarly, Wilson sees the big three expressed by the people around them, too.

Wilson said, “Especially growing up with siblings, because you age through your signs, [my siblings] resonated more with their moon sign as a child and then kind of grew into their sun sign, [so] I have seen my siblings move through those.”

Sun signs change during the third calendar week of a month, usually on the 21, 22, or 23 so people who have birthdays then are “on the cusp” of two-star signs and might exhibit traits of both.

While both Tigro and Wilson have recognized astrology within their own lives and the lives of those around them, not everyone agrees on its merits. Some find the field of astrology to be too mystical and lacking in truth. However, there are several courses required for people to be trained in writing horoscopes. To be credible, these astrologists must learn how the planets, the big three signs, and the astrological houses align to produce an astrological chart.

Tigro and Wilson agree that astrology has deepened their understanding of themselves.

Wilson said, “If something helps you to understand yourself, and helps you to find ways that help you understand your strengths and your talents — to me at least — it doesn’t really matter if you can corroborate it.”

Similarly, for Tigro, astrology offers a refreshing perspective to see one’s self and the world.

She said, “The people that I’ve interacted with who are not into zodiac signs don’t really look into it themselves. I feel like if they were to look into their zodiac sign, maybe they would connect with some of it, not all of it, obviously.”

Astrology is not only about how the planets orbit the sun, but the calendar is relational — influencing the relationships between people. There are zodiac sign combinations that make for better friendships. For example, an Aries, someone who is dynamic, energetic, curious, and direct, would make a great duo with a Gemini (born May 21 to about June 21), because Geminis are similar to Arieses in the best ways: always up for anything, forever youthful, and very curious.