Growing up as a twin has been all I’ve ever known. It’s hard for me to look at my life as different because I’ve never known anything else.
In elementary school, Karver and I were never in the same classes. My mom always opted for us not to be in the same classroom, so we wouldn’t rely on each other. I do remember, we’d still hang out during recess, so we got to see each other some throughout the day, but it wasn’t too much that we were attached.
In high school, we’ve only been in the same class once or twice. We just kinda stayed away from each other and sat where we were assigned. We didn’t really talk to each other that much, I guess. We mostly kept to ourselves. I talked to my friends, and he talked to his own.
I think I’ve always been mostly independent, even though we do a lot of stuff together. We’re around each other a lot, but I don’t find myself relying on him. Also, because he’s a boy, we don’t do everything together. We’re both involved in different activities, so we’re used to not constantly being surrounded by each other.
It’s cool to be able to talk about stuff that’s going on. We can talk about classes, and everything applies to each other because we are in the same grade. And it’s just nice to experience and go through things together. I like not going through things alone, like graduation, grad parties, homecoming, and prom. It’s nice not to go through things alone, and I would say that’s what’s most different between a twin and a sibling. I have lots of siblings, but they’re not in the same grade or even close to the same grade.
I would say just because my other siblings are older than I, I am closer to Karver because I’ve lived with him my whole life, while my other siblings have not. We also spend the most time together. Since we’re in the same grade and the only ones at home, I am closest to him.
A lot of times, when I go to a teacher, Karver gets mentioned as well. We’re talked about together a lot, even though we are two separate people. We also get compared to each other a lot. People will say things like, “What does your brother think of this?” or just stuff along those lines. We haven’t really had any of the same teachers besides in high school, so I wouldn’t say we are compared by most teachers.
I will say there is a bit of rivalry between academics and athletics, and just like being the best. It does help to an aspect that he is a boy, so we’re participating in different sports, so it’s not always a direct comparison. I’ve done different things throughout high school than him, so I think that helps lower the competition. Even though we still definitely talk about who’s more athletic or has done the most. I think this competition is honestly brought on by us because we’re constantly talking about who’s “better” at certain things. Sometimes we will argue about little things, but it’s never a huge deal.
Sometimes our parents do talk about academics. They want us to have good grades so that sometimes feeds into the competition between us.
I think it’s definitely a little sad because next year, we’ll be at different colleges. It will be sad not to see each other every day, and only on special occasions. I’ve had a lot of siblings move out, so I’m used to it, and I already know what it feels like. It’s just hard knowing that we’ll never live with each other again, and we will really only see each other on breaks.
It will be a weird adjustment shifting from everything I know, but it will all turn out okay in the long run.
