What do you think of when you hear "twin"?

by Krysten Lyle

My brother, Chris, and I as adorable kids.

What do you think of when you hear twin? Most likely you think the common stereotypes: twins act alike, dress alike, are practically the same person, and have twin telepathy.

As a girl with a twin brother I can tell you most of those aren't true. Sure it's cute to match your twin when you're a little kid and it's fun to confuse people when you are identical, but as my fellow twin and I grow up all that gets pretty annoying. Of course the first few times when people ask you if you're identical after you explain in detail that your twin is of a different gender, as in a fraternal twin, you answer nicely. After you get asked that question almost every time you mention your twin your response is a sigh and you walk away. Can you really blame us? 

Aside from the difficulty of explaining identical and fraternal, twins have other myths to disclaim.  Sophomore James Burke explained  his views on being a twin.

"My life as a twin is fun," he says "[Kevin and I] are really close. Even though we yell at each other all the time, he does everything for me and I do everything for him." He also feels that twin telepathy is a myth. "...It doesn't exist. I never experienced it before and neither has any other twin I know," said Burke.

What about the whole sharing everything deal? Most kids would probably be annoyed and jealous to share their birthday with someone, especially when younger twin who always gets "Happy Birthday" sung to last. Honestly, it's not that bad. No, my brother and I don't share a room, but we share teachers, a birthday, and a whole bunch of other things, but it's not that bad. After almost 16 years you're used to it. Isabelle Claude, a sophomore, agrees.

"When it comes to you being a twin you basically share everything. Teachers, coaches, a birthday. Some people just know me as Nelson's twin sister or know Nelson as Isabelle's twin brother," stated Claude. "It can get annoying, my whole life I've gotten half of something, it's like getting one shoe instead of a pair!" 

What if we had been identical twins? If I had an identical twin I would have to apologize to everyone.  I know how I am and if there were two of me, oh my! Never mind the jealousy! Claude speculated on life with an identical twin.

"...She would be my best friend, but I feel like I would get envious over the little things and I wouldn't want to be in competition my whole life," mentioned Claude.

I 100% understand especially since my twin is my only sibling and wouldn't know how to handle a sister.

All this talk about a twin and I haven't introduced you to mine yet.  My partner in crime is Christopher Lyle, born one hour before me December 29. After asking several times and being avoided,  he finally explained what it was like to be a twin.

"Being a twin is like having another sibling, we just have a strong bond.  The whole telepathy thing doesn't exist we are just so close we know what we're thinking and we finish each other's sentences for the same reason," Lyle replied.

I wouldn't change being a twin for the world.

He and I both know that we are always there for each other. I really wouldn't know what my life would be like without him.

Our parents shared their thoughts about my brother and I being very close twins.

"Twin telepathy, I never experience it myself, but seeing my twins experiencing something like it, it makes you wonder.  When we found out we were going to have twins we were excited to experience a whole new way of raising children. Since we never found out the genders until birth, once we found out it was a boy and girl, knowing I might not have children again due to a high risk pregnancy, we were excited to know we were going to have one of each,” my mother, Marie Lyle explained.

Despite the couple hours of labor, one natural birth, one c-section, almost dying several times, and my dad almost having to make a decision between the love of his life and his newly born children who were also dying, my mother firmly stated, "I wouldn't change it for anything... not in a million years." Seeing the way her eyes lit up over the memories was really a sight to see.

Having a twin is normal for me. Sure it's a cool thing to mention about you, but really, we are just like everyone else. Yet, I wouldn't change it for the world.