Before starting at UMich, I had grown accustomed to answering to the name of my identical twin sister, Sarah, as well as “Sarabecca,” a fusion of our names created by our parents when we were babies that has stuck to this day. Not only do I share this nickname with my sister Sarah, but I have shared just about everything else with her. My clothes, my room, my birthday –- calling these things “mine” may not be completely accurate.
While Sarah is studying engineering and crunching numbers at UPenn, I’m starting my college career at UMich. Since the time we were crammed in a womb together for nine months, we had never truly been separated until now.
It didn’t hit me until welcome week when I arrived to my dorm in Oxford and realized that the other bed in my room wasn’t Sarah’s. For the first time in my young adult life, I was just Rebecca. I was excited yet nervous to see what my first semester as a college student would be like without my better half by my side.
To my surprise, my debut as “just Rebecca” could not be going better. My roommate and I are already best friends, and I’m becoming involved in a sorority and befriending girls from across the country and the world. I’ve gotten lost on North Campus, studied in the stacks, gone to themed mixers and enjoyed plenty of football Saturdays. I overcame all-nighters, grueling assignments and midterms galore. While I couldn’t always turn to my sister when stress piled up, I had fellow freshmen going through it all with me and new friends by my side who I already know will be some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Sarah will always be my best friend, but I’m happy to say that in these next four years I’ll be making many more.