Elliott Cottington
Reporter
For seniors Victoria and Janelle Gerardi, life can often feel like a scene from the movie “The Parent Trap.” As children, they frequently pulled pranks on friends and family, all made possible by the fact that they are identical twins. Just one of the many pairs of twins and triplets who attend NCHS, their unique situation leads to a variety of benefits, frustrations and opportunities for hilarity.
Whether fraternal or identical, there are many aspects of daily life that are affected by having a twin. Sophomores Charlotte and Lillian Engel explained the benefits they have experienced. “You never have to be alone and you have a friend for the rest of your life,” Charlotte said.
Similarly, seniors Victoria and Janelle Gerardi see being twins as a positive, helpful part of their lives. “One benefit of being a twin is that we are in a few of the same classes, so we can study together for tests and ask each other questions on the homework,” Janelle said.
Communication and honesty are rarely issues for twins who are this close. “You can always bounce ideas off one another and get an honest opinion,” Lillian said.
Janelle emphasized the understanding she has with her twin. “Another benefit is having someone I can directly relate to and talk to without the fear of being judged, because I know she’s going through the same things and is probably thinking the same things as I am,” Janelle said. “I can tell her anything and I know 100% that she won’t tell anyone else if I don’t want her to. We are best friends.”
On the other hand, there are often certain facets of being a twin that can lead to frustrations and fights. “You often have to share things that other siblings might not have to, such as the car, birthdays and friend groups,” junior Jack Robey said. “You are often known as ‘Alex’s brother.’”
Janelle agreed, emphasizing the frustration of often being seen as a “package” rather than individuals. “We are identified by our peers as one person. Sometimes our friends just call us, ‘the Gerardis,’ or ‘the twins’. We understand that people have trouble telling us apart but when they don’t even make an attempt to, it can be disheartening,” Janelle said. “You are also often compared to your twin. This means you are categorized as either the smart one, the dumb one, the athletic one, the more outgoing one, the quieter one, the ugly one (joking!) or the evil twin (not joking!). You can never be just Janelle.”
By high school though, most twins have gotten used to being mistaken for one another and no longer see it as an annoyance. “It’s not really that annoying when people get us mixed up, we’ve gotten used to it by now,” Charlotte said. “If I’m walking down the hall and someone shouts “Lillie!” to me, I will turn around because they probably mean one of us and just can’t tell which one.”
However, for sophomores Lauren, Jenny and Michael Joneja, being told they look alike is one of the greater annoyances of being triplets. “Well, we aren’t identical and I’m the boy, so people don’t mix us up. It’s annoying when people say, ‘Oh you guys look alike!’ when we don’t at all,” Michael said.
Despite some frustrating side effects of twin life, Charlotte and Lillian can’t help but take advantage of having someone who looks exactly like you. “Sometimes we even like to fool people. It’s a chance you can’t pass up if you’re granted the opportunity to look like someone else,” Charlotte said.
In the end, being an identical twin is not always a foolproof way of tricking people. “We tried swapping classes in 8th grade, and it would have worked too, except our classmates were so excited by the idea they couldn’t stop talking about it, so we were given a warning not to do it again,” Lillian added.
Now that they are teenagers, Alex and Jack try to stand out as individuals, but their childhoods were dominated by matching outfits and shared parties. “I remember that we used to wear matching halloween costumes when we were really little, which would have made it really difficult to tell who was who, and we always shared birthday parties as kids.” Alex said.
Even though they were born at almost the exact same time, Victoria and Janelle still competed for seniority. “Victoria, being the oldest, was the “leader” when we were younger. She was the boss and I had to do everything she told me to. So when there was ever something we wanted in a cabinet but couldn’t reach, I would get on my hands and knees and Victoria would stand on my back to get the goods,” Janelle said.
Despite the benefits and the occasional frustration associated with being a twin, the desire for individuality seems to be the recurring theme. For Janelle, this is one of the things she wishes more people knew. “It would be a much better use of your time to get to know each of us individually, without constantly making connections between us,” she said. “That is how I sometimes wish people saw us, not as a unit, but as two completely separate individuals.”
