All my life, my sisters been by my side. And because we're identical twins, it's always been expected. We played the same sports growing up, took many of the same classes and hung out with the same people. We were never exactly the same, and any of our friends could list plenty of differences, not just with our looks but our personalities too, but we were pretty much always together.
That's why I knew that going to college, I wanted to go to separate schools.
This was a shock to everyone we told, but I never really second-guessed the feeling. Growing up with siblings is one thing, but growing up with a twin is a different story. Half of my teachers would've never realized if my sister went to class for me one day and that includes the ones who knew us both. And I can't count all the times the word "twin" has been used as a substitute for my name, which I get just as much as I get mistaken for my sister.
When thinking about college, it wasn't about getting away from her so much as finding out my own identity apart from just being known as a twin. Besides that, I thought it'd be good for us to go away, have new experiences and be able to come back home and share them with each other. My parents have always encouraged us to do our own thing and be independent and I was definitely excited to do this, to meet new people and make friends that knew me as an individual, not just as one half of "the twins."
Something I've learned in the two months I've been at school is that while these things are all true and I am having a lot of fun, it's been a lot harder than I thought it would be. Whenever I've gotten the chance to see my sister, or when we Facetime, it's how it's always been. We can talk about anything and everything together and we have the best time doing stupid stuff and making each other laugh. The hardest part about it is definitely leaving each other to go back to school and not having the person I'm closest to by my side.
I've always liked having a twin, but the experience has made me more grateful than ever to have someone I relate to so much and that can be there for me whenever. Going to college at the same time and going through a lot of the same experiences, we're constantly talking to each other about it all. Through everything, I know that wherever either of us goes and no matter how far apart we are, I'll always have my sister supporting me and I'll always be there to support her.
