In 2017-2018 alone, DGN contained 36 sets of fraternal and identical twins. While students seem surprised to learn about the vast number of look-alikes, they are more common than people realize. A study provided by UT Austin said 3% of the global population has a twin, and DGN is consistent with that fact since they make 3.2% of our student body.

While much of the DGN population embraces twins on a day-to-day basis, their lives may seem different to what others perceive.

A common struggle among twins is how often they are confused for one another. Separation is made clear to those who are friends with the twins, but for strangers, confusion is a routine occurrence.

Brooke and Carly Hazen are fraternal twins. The two types, fraternal and identical, are commonly confused with one another, even though some fraternal twins are easily told apart. In this instance, Brooke and Carly are mixed up with each other on a daily basis.

“It used to really bother me and it made me feel like I wasn’t an individual, and instead seen as a pair,” Brooke said. “Back in the day, I was too shy to explain which twin I was when people called me Carly.”

“At least once a day this school year I’ve been called by my sister’s name. I don’t get offended or upset, but I do feel awkward just because I know people get embarrassed if I correct them,” Carly said.

Camille and Arden Jachim, identical twins at DGN, experience similar encounters. “I’m confused with Arden at least once a day, if not more. It’s mostly by teachers and sometimes by friends. It bothers me, but I’m so used to it that I respond to both names,” Camille said.

Since identical twins are sometimes confused for each other, different clothing and hairstyles are clear indicators in spotting separation. In order to make it easier for students, Camille sometimes keeps her eyebrows thicker than her look-alike.

“I purposely keep my eyebrows thicker than Arden’s, because I know she likes hers thin. This helps some people out,” Camille said.

This occurrence is common among twins, in fraternal and identical instances. Carly has taken into account the wardrobe of herself and Brooke, and thought of a plan to help them both in school.

“Our peers think of Brooke as the one who dresses nice more often, so I avoid wearing nice clothes to school in an attempt to be recognized easier,” Hazen said.

Brooke agreed to this statement as well, and added to the fact clothes, friends, and way of life are also differences.
On the contrary, juniors Kelsey Bernhard and her twin, Karly, share plenty of items with each other on a daily basis.

“Karly and I share everything, whether it’s the car we drive, our room, our clothes, and even the smallest things. It can get annoying at times, but sometimes it’s nice especially because we get double the amount of clothes that we share,” Kelsey said.

Something of interest brought up was how to deal with teachers that have confused one for the other. “I’ve had teachers that say hi to me in the hallway, meaning to address Carly, and I just act the part,” Brooke said.

Carly has these encounters often in the hallways as well. “With teachers, since they mostly give a passive hallway greeting or hold a short conversation, I’ll just pretend to be my sister, then report to her so she knows about the conversation ‘she’ had with them,” Carly said.

All of the twins had alluded to the fact that they are different in a variety of ways, and are not bothered by their alikeness.