When I tell people at ‘Berg that I am a twin, one of two things happens. Either they will look up from their Canvas pages, eyes widening and gasping, saying, “You’re a twin? That’s so cool!” Or, the more surprising option, “That’s really cool, I think [insert other ‘Berg student] is a twin too!” The latter option took me aback; I am no longer the only twin in my small school. But as I like to say, part of a secret society: the ‘Berg community of twins. It’s so secret, we don’t even know how many members there are.
Being here for four years, I’ve found out there is a strange number of twins on campus. When drafting this piece, I had a list of over ten people, all twins, I wanted to reach out to. I’m sure there are even more twins at ‘Berg. I wish I had an explanation for this but rather it will be why the Noshery blondies taste so good: forever a mystery.
“The reaction I get almost every time is basically shock and excitement followed by a million questions on what it is like to be a twin,” Peter Schumann ‘27 said. Schumann is a fraternal twin with his sister going to a separate school. According to Schumann, they still text and call each other frequently.
When one of my friends found out I was a twin, they sauntered down Academic Row, shocked and wide-eyed when they saw my sister. She gasped, “How did I not know this?” One time I showed a picture of my twin and I together in The Weekly office, and one of our editors said, “That’s scary” as their face lingered under the yellow Seegers light.
“I’ve met more twins on campus than I’ve thought,” Noah Berger ’24 said. His fraternal twin goes to another school, though people are surprised to learn Berger has one. “When I show [people] a picture, typically, they still do not believe it.”
“I think I have met around four pairs of twins so far, but I know there are more,” Lauren Fluckiger ’27 said. “Since this is a smaller school, it is a little odd.”
Fluckiger is an identical twin. “We did not go to the same college because we have very different interests,” Fluckiger explained. “I think a lot of people see us as a package deal… we aren’t the same people.”
As an identical twin, I hate when people assume we are the same person. It is demeaning and hurtful. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a twin. I love my sister to the moon and back, but like that Monday, April 8, our individual identities are often eclipsed. This is one of the reasons we decided to go to different schools.
“I wish people knew we’re our own person,” Aidan Silvestri ‘25 said. “People often don’t acknowledge that we’re genuinely different people who have separate lives.”
“[For] identical twins specifically, I wish people wouldn’t try so hard to figure out how to tell us apart,” Katharine Olson ’27 said. “I prefer [for people] to just ask.”
While I could never do a fun twin prank, plenty of students have. “My sister and I made up a fake language to get a rise out of my parents,” Schumann said.
Olson and her twin, as well as Elle and Aidan Silvestri have swapped places. “Me and Elle had these classes at the same time with these two professors who we were close with who were really chill,” Aidan Silvestri said. “So we were like, if we’re going to pull a prank, it should be these two teachers at this time. Then we swapped classes.”
At its core, I love my twin and I truly can’t imagine my life without her. Even though our twin status means our college graduations are on the same day at the same time.
“My favorite thing about being a twin is that I have a built-in support system,” Fluckiger said. “No matter what, she is always there for me, and she knows me better than anyone, even myself.”
Berger said, “You always have someone to hang out with when you’re home on breaks.”
“I feel like she knows me better than I know myself,” Aidan Silvestri said.
“She’s my partner in crime.” Olson said, “My partner in everything.”
The best part about being a twin is knowing that there is always someone on your side. My twin, even though she has the same face, the same eyes, and the same middle school obsession with “Doctor Who,” is the Watson to my Holmes and the Kirk to my Spock. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
a fraternal twin here 🙂 i wouldn’t have it any other way.