By Chance Ybarra
Being a twin is both a blessing and a curse. Siblings have to share, and so do twins, If I were bought a new toy, my twin would get that new toy too. Choosing what we both wanted to watch on TV is a nightmare. Having to split time playing video games was awful. Anything I did, he probably did too. If I was in a sport, he probably was in the same sport as well. As younger kids, my brother and I hardly got along. We’d always fight over really minor and stupid things like time on the TV or playing with a certain toy, and just about anything you could pretty much think of.
Credits-Chance Ybarra
On the other hand, he’s basically my built-in best friend. Everyone knows that awkward moment when you show up to an event and you don’t know anyone else who’s there, with a twin that never happens. It hasn’t always been the easiest to be a twin. Sometimes it’s hard to just be yourself when you look alike and have similar interests. It’s hard to feel like your own person, and growing up I hardly ever did. Despite this, we’ve got plenty of different interests now and different friends. My brother plays soccer for the school and likes to play video games, and I’m involved in ASB and like to bake. Just because we’re one in the same doesn’t mean we are the exact same person.
Credit-Brooklyn Bawanan
Of course, my experience could be entirely different than other twins. So, I asked a few questions to another pair of twins just to get their opinion on how to be a twin. The Bawanans are identical twins, whereas my brother and I are fraternal twins.
When asked about the difficulties about being a twin, Kai Bawanan stated, “Being a twin can be difficult at times, as an identical twin people often mix us up.”
The unfortunate part about being a twin and looking decently alike is that there are often mix ups. As a fraternal twin it happens much less, but I could only imagine as an identical twin.
Another difficulty that Kai happened to mention was being able to be yourself. She says, “The biggest part about being a twin is there is no individuality. People treat us as the same person.”
I largely agree with Kai on this point considering I mentioned earlier that being myself was hard when we were younger as we did extremely similar activities, such as soccer and baseball. Kai also admits that because her and her twin are identical, people often are hesitant to approach them in fear of accidentally calling out the other’s name. Similarly, my brother and I have been mixed up many times.
Regardless, I then asked her if she and her twin got along, to which she responded with, “Me and my twin get along very well. I have never been genuinely mad at her.” She also mentioned that “only child twins” seem to get along better, which seems arguably true considering the rest of the twins I know besides myself get along really well (not that he and I don’t), and are all the only children in their families. I didn’t mention earlier in the article that my brother and I used to share a room, which is true for many siblings, but especially for twins. Kai mentioned that she and her sister also shared a room together.
When asked about sharing items, she argued, “Sometimes it’s hard to share things because they are not exactly shareable gifts.” They often share clothes and the sort, and she even told me a story in which she and her sister were out trick or treating. She and her sister were given a single fruit chew to share (have you seen the size of those things?!) despite the woman having a full bowl of candy. I’ve never experienced anything like that, but that’s just another level of low.
In short to sum it up, being a twin is both a blessing and a curse. It’s rather difficult to be yourself, having to share nearly everything is exhausting, and getting along sometimes can be difficult.