Right before getting into the car and pulling out of the driveway, they’ll have to say their goodbyes. They will say farewell to their parents, siblings and friends, but some will leave under different circumstances. Some seniors will be leaving accompanied by someone who’s been with them since day one, their twin, while others will be forced to leave that person.
“We’ve talked about going to the same college but we’ve realized we want different things,” senior Kayla Kehlmann said. “My sister Lindsey wants to be an engineer and I want to major in business so we probably won’t go to the same school, but we’ll definitely have to keep in touch on Skype.”
Twins Lindsey and Kayla are about to part ways after going through many of life’s stepping stones together. They have shared some of the celebrated moments in the Jewish religion, like their b’not mitzvah (plural of bat mitzvah), and have lived through many similar high school experiences, which they feel have resulted in many positives and negatives.
“In some ways our high school experience has been empowered because if you go into a social situation where you don’t know anyone and you have somebody else with you everything’s more comfortable,” Lindsey said. “But I think it has also been kind of weakened because you don’t feel that push to meet new people. You’re comfortable and safe. You have that person to talk with in the corner.”
Although some twins decide to go to different universities, some feel like it’s destined for them to move on to the next chapter of their life together. Twin seniors Rachel and Thomas Byers have decided to enroll at the University of Arkansas and finish their education together.
“It’s easier for our parents if we go to the same college,” Rachel said. “We were both interested in Arkansas and we visited other universities but we both really liked it.”
Both the Kehlmanns and Byers said that they share many of the same friends, that they spend a lot of time with one another, but each twin has chosen a different major than his or her twin. Though they each have chosen fields of education that differ from what the other has chosen, the Byers felt like they have always known they would go to the same college.
“I feel like it’d be weird to just stop having her there,’ Thomas Byers said. ‘But we’re definitely not rooming together because that’d be really awkward. I just think it’ll be nice to continue being able to have her there, though, to learn through each other’s experiences.”
The Kehlmann twins said they have faced social pressures that have both strained and strengthened their relationship as twins, but that at the end of the day they will always resolve their problems and love one another.
“We fight, but we fight over dumb things and we get over them really fast,” Kayla said. “Sometimes we leave our house and we’re really mad at each other, we’ll get in the car, a song starts playing, one of us will start to sing, the other will join along and we’ll just forget about it.”
Each of the twins said that they have a good relationship with one another but have chosen two very different ways to proceed in their lives. One way means a new start without a familiar face, and the other provides a crutch.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge, and we’ve been thinking about it for a while so it’s not going to feel like a complete shock, but when I get there it’ll be weird to not tell her everything I’m thinking and revert to her,” Lindsey said. “I won’t have that support base, but really that is everyone’s situation in college. Ultimately, it’s about starting new, having a fresh start and being somewhere you’ve never been before. It’ll be good to get to know who I am by myself.”
