The first article I wrote after joining HerCampus during the fall of my freshman year was about going to Colby with my twin sister, Fiona. A lot has happened and changed, so here are my new reflections almost two years since then.
My original concern about going to college with Fiona was constantly being mistaken for each other. I can confidently say getting misrecognized is something I still face, but I think I’ve come to realize that it’s inevitable. One funny instance took place in Miller Street during the fall semester this year. I was doing work when I was approached by a professor who asked me how I thought class went today. I remember Fiona telling me she was in a history class in Miller that ended around the time this took place, so my first reaction was I was being mistaken for her. However, I decided to go along with the conversation because I couldn’t get myself to tell the professor he was chatting with the wrong student. It was only until the professor started asking me specific questions about the course —my thoughts— on the South Asian spice trade that I decided to come clean.
While I have plenty more fun stories to share, going to the same college as my twin isn’t always smooth sailing. Something I didn’t expect to happen was growing apart from Fiona. I had envisioned college being the two of us eating all our meals together and eventually rooming together during our second year. We did not room together and ate a total of less than ten meals together during our entire freshman year. I ate most meals alone while Fiona mostly ate with her friends. Was I jealous that she had new friends? Yes, but expanding our circle of friends also led to many more opportunities, such as random Walmart trips and fun birthday celebrations.
Looking back, I attribute a large part of my jealousy to not being able to find my own solid group of friends. I mainly jumped between different friend groups and didn’t have people that I could regularly catch meals with. However, I’ve started to become okay with the types of friendships I’ve made at Colby. I’d like to think I have a good balance of alone time and time with friends.
Recently, room draw for Fall 2021 took place. A few months before, Fiona and I talked about getting a double together because we both wanted to stay in AMS and it would also be nice to live with each other again. I am happy to say that we will be roommates again and are hoping to study abroad together, too. While I am super happy that things are returning back to the way they were for us pre-college, I am grateful for the time we spent apart because it allowed us to both figure out more about ourselves outside of being twins.