After telling people that I am a twin, I almost always get the same questions. “Do y’all look alike?” “What’s it like growing up as a twin?” “Do you actually have twin telepathy?”
Since I’ve been in college and my twin and I attend separate colleges, I get these responses along with surprising faces when people find out that there are actually two of me. The truth is, I really don’t know what it’s like to not be a twin, so it’s completely normal to me. Even though I don’t know what it’s like to not grow up with a twin, I do know that I truly loved growing up with a twin brother for several reasons.
Growing up with a twin is like having a built-in best friend with you at all times. It’s someone that has been by your side before you were even born. It’s someone that you wore cute coordinated outfits with as babies and learned how to ride your bike next to. It’s always having a birthday buddy. It’s being able to have someone with you during every first experience or new beginning. Every first day of school or first basketball practice I was never alone. Walking into a new surrounding full of new, unknown faces I always had my twin to turn to and lean on. Being able to share almost every new experience with my twin is something that I will always cherish and look back on realizing how lucky I actually am.
Luckily, my twin and I grew up enjoying the same activities and playing the same sports. We conquered tee-ball, upward basketball, intramural soccer, and almost every sport you can think of together. Since my twin is a boy and I am a girl, I didn’t think anything different about being involved in several sports. Having a twin brother allowed me to “be one of the guys” and acquire many friends that were boys. Looking back on it, I am very glad and fortunate that I grew up this way because I realized that I learned a lot about myself throughout sports and I was able to become a stronger person.
Even though my twin and I are very different, I think we are also the same in certain aspects and ways. Our personalities are almost opposite and we have grown up to enjoy different things in life, but at the same time, we will always share a sense of humor and other distinct personality traits. With our personalities being so different, I think that we both are able to balance each other out and learn from one another. I feel that all of the traits and qualities that I lack or need to improve on, my twin is able to demonstrate very well. I think that I have learned a lot about myself through my twin and I will continue to learn and grow with his help. This is one of the many reasons that I am so lucky and fortunate to have a twin brother.
No matter how many names we have called each other or fights that we have been in, I will always think of my twin as my best friend. There is absolutely no other person that I have spent more time around or knows me as well as my twin brother. As we continue to grow up and go through ups and downs in our lives, I know that my twin and I will never lose our close relationship.
The best part about being a twin is knowing that my twin will always be there for me and that he will always be my best friend, no matter how far away from each other we are or how big of a fight we get into.
