Growing Together

Interviewing twins who go to the College together

By the second day of my freshman fall semester, I had already encountered the twins of the College of William and Mary phenomenon. I recognised (or thought I recognised) someone in a club meeting from one of my classes a few hours before, and I Zoom messaged him talking about our class — as you probably suspected, I had made my first twin mix-up. Since then, I’ve met twin pairs all over campus, and curious what the experience was like, I decided to talk to some of the College’s twins for Flat Hat Magazine. Interviewing twins came with its own set of quirky challenges — I’d never before interviewed two people at once (it can be a little chaotic), and I’ve certainly never had to ask before an interview, “So, who’s who?” To further complicate matters, AI transcription software (which normally can differentiate between voices) has trouble detecting speaker changes between twins — it was a good thing I recorded the Zoom meeting because I certainly would not have known which twin was talking either if I just had recorded the audio! Below are the conversations I had with three sets of the College’s many twin pairs. The questions are somewhat consistent across interviews to highlight similarities, but more importantly, differences — there is no single way to “twin.” The following conversations have been edited for clarity.

THE APONTE TWINS

REBECCA KLINGER // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE

Olivia Aponte ’22

Majors: History & Sociology (with a concentration in Criminology, Law & Society)

Organisations: Catholic Campus Ministry, Phi Sigma Pi, Innocence Club, IM Soccer, Phi Alpha Theta, & Alpha Kappa Delta

Favourite Spot on Campus: the tree by the Sir Christopher Wren Building

Evelyn Aponte ’22

Majors: History & Hispanic Studies

Organisations: Hispanic House, Catholic Campus Ministry, Phi Sigma Pi, & Phi Alpha Theta

Favourite Spot on Campus: McLeod Tyler Wellness Center adirondack chairs overlooking the woods

Hometown: South Riding, VA

Zodiac: Leo

Least Favourite Twin Question: “Are you the same person?” and “Can you feel each other’s pain?”

Favourite Twin Show/Movie: The Lying Game (Evelyn) & Parent Trap (Olivia)

Classes taken together: 16

Shared Fun Facts: Have 19-year-old twin brothers and can read Egyptian hieroglyphs

JR Herman: First off, how did you both end up at William and Mary together?

Olivia Aponte: Evelyn and I always knew we wanted to go to the same college — we were like, “We’re going to apply to the same places, and then depending on where we get in, we’ll go to the same school.” We both did Early Decision here and thank goodness both of us got in because it’s binding, so if one of us got in and the other didn’t, that probably would have been hard for us. We obviously wanted to go to school together, but our freshman year, we wanted to have random roommates. We did the whole Housing Portal survey, and then over the summer when we opened the emails for our housing assignments, we were both like, “Oh my gosh, Dinwiddie third floor!” And then, “Wait, that’s my number too.” So they put us together.

JH: Did you end up rooming together freshman year?

Evelyn Aponte: Freshman year, sophomore year, and then COVID-19 stopped everything. We’ve since gone our separate ways, but everyone freshman year thought it was just a cop-out — they said, “You guys just have separation anxiety and can’t be without each other.” I thought, “No, we honestly tried to have random roommates.” I told Olivia, “As long as I have you at school, we don’t need to be roommates — just the emotional support of having your sibling on campus is enough to feel comfortable branching out.” But then freshman year, [Residence Life] was like, “Nah, I’m gonna hold you guys back a little bit.”

JH: Especially freshman year when you were rooming together, did you ever worry about not branching out enough?

OA: For sure, because it’s so much more comfortable to stick with what you know, especially in the transition from high school to college. Both of us were very shy in high school. Now we’re not — we’re much more outgoing and extroverted. But yeah, you feel like you don’t have to put yourself out there as much because you always have somebody right there who you’re completely comfortable with. I will say it hindered me a little bit in the beginning. But especially during COVID-19, when we lived in separate dorms for the fall semester. Then Evelyn stayed home in the spring semester and I came back to campus, and I had to learn how to be okay by myself. It was a really good experience, just learning we always have each other, but we don’t always have to be physically together to feel connected or in touch.

JH: How often do people mix you up?

EA: Yesterday at Wawa, a guy screams “Olivia!,” and I turn around. It’s just an example — I always respond to Olivia even though I know I am Evelyn, but if I hear an “Olivia,” I will turn around. It turns out his friend who was also at Wawa is named Olivia, but I still looked up because I thought, “Could he be trying to talk to me?” We get mixed up all the time, every day.

JH: Do you have a rule of thumb on how to tell you apart?

EA: Oh, yeah, there’s a whole thing. People tell me, “This is how I’ve told you and Olivia apart” — think of the alphabet ABCDEF — Evelyn, Freckle. I got one right here near my eyes. Remember the alphabet. Olivia, round face: O. Usually my hair’s longer. I think they say I have a deeper voice than Olivia.

OA: It’s very much one of two ways when people meet us, it’s either, “Oh my gosh, I will never be able to tell you guys apart because you guys look exactly the same” or “I can see how you guys are sisters, but I don’t see how people can’t tell you apart.”

EA: That’s actually a funny story. Freshman year of college, our friend asked, “So how do you two know each other,” talking to me and Olivia. And I thought he was just trying to be funny, so I said, “Oh yeah, we’re roommates.” He said back, “That’s cool. What high school did you guys go to?” And I responded, “We’re sisters. We’re twins. Did you not realise that?” The look on his face — he was like, “I had no idea; I thought you guys were just really close friends.” I’ve never gotten that one before. I’ll get “Oh, I thought you guys were sisters, not twins” but to think we were completely unrelated, that took me back.

JH: Have you ever tried twin pranks on people?

EA: Only once in third grade. You know how you have the homeroom teacher and then you have the other teacher who was paired up with your homeroom teacher? Olivia and I had that. My teacher was like, “Guys, I’m going to have you switch.” Obviously, he knew Olivia was in his class, but Olivia’s teacher didn’t know I was in her class — she thought I was still Olivia.

JH: Do you intentionally ever try to dress more similarly or differently?

OA: Yeah, we are into ear piercings, and I always tell Evelyn “You cannot copy my ear piercings!”

EA: I have 10 piercings in my right ear because Olivia already started piercing her left ear. We got into a huge — well, not a huge — we really never get into arguments, but we went to a Post Malone concert two years ago. I’ve heard that if you wear black, it slims your figure, so I thought, “Okay, I really want to buy myself a black bodysuit to wear with jeans for the concert.” But Olivia had already called that she was going to wear a black top that day. It literally was World War III. I yelled, “Olivia, you are trying to make me look heavier than you aren’t you? You are maliciously trying to look slimmer than me, how dare you, you knew I wanted to wear black and look good at the concert!” But I ended up buying a white, one-shoulder bodysuit, which was very pretty, and I still had a great time.

Also, junior year when Olivia and I didn’t live together anymore, even freshman and sophomore year when one of us would wake up earlier than the other for class then we’d meet later, sometimes we’d come in wearing the same shirt or the same pants. We didn’t know what the other picked out that day because one of us was still asleep while the other was already out the door. Now we let each other know what we’re wearing so we don’t come to an event dressed the same.

EA: People definitely think, “You guys literally cannot be apart from each other — you even have to dress the same.” No, it’s by coincidence.

JH: When one of you has friend drama, does the other twin get involved?

EA: People will tell me, “You have to keep this between me and you.” I hear that as, “Okay, you can tell Olivia but not anyone else.” If someone tells me something, I will tell Olivia, and I’m sorry, even if I promise you I won’t, I am.

OA: I feel it’s unreasonable for people to ask that of us. Obviously, I’m going to tell Evelyn.

JH: Are there any annoying aspects of being a twin?

OA: It feels like sometimes Evelyn and I are in a zoo exhibit — we’re the animals and people on the outside are just looking at us in disbelief and confusion like we’re a spectacle.

EA: Sometimes it crosses a line. One time a stranger grabbed Olivia and said, “Wait, let me see” — people forcibly hold us together to compare us side by side. Also, someone might think I’d be offended if you come up to me and ask “Are you Olivia or Evelyn?” I’d much rather have someone do that than just scream “twin” or “Olivia” or “Aponte” to get my attention. Asking enables you to start a conversation: “This is who I am apart from Olivia” or “This is how you can tell the difference.”

JH: Do you have any very different hobbies?

OA: I feel after college we’re each going to go more of our separate ways, especially with our career paths. I think in school, it’s harder because growing up we were always put in the same extracurriculars and on the same teams, which kept us at the same level for most of our lives. College has exposed each of us to different experiences and possibilities, so I’m looking forward to trying new things that are different from what Evelyn has ahead of her.

EA: Yeah, athletically, academically, we’ve always been neck and neck.

JH: Since you’re always neck and neck, is there competition?

OA: The sibling rivalry would be fueled by teachers, like when they would give us back our tests: “Oh, Olivia (or Evelyn), you got two points higher than the other, you better step it up next time.” We’d always be competitive because we were always compared to each other in every aspect of our lives. It’s taken growth on each of our parts to see and treat ourselves as our own individuals and embrace that our talents, strengths, and weaknesses are different from each other, but are valid.

EA: It’s never gotten so serious where we’ve hated each other, feeling like the other has betrayed the other, like, “Oh my gosh, you ended up studying more than me for this and earned a higher grade. How dare you, we’re supposed to stay at the same level.” We’ve definitely gotten a lot better at celebrating each other’s accomplishments. Olivia’s paper got published in The James Blair Historical Review, and mine got rejected, and that was a hard blow for me. Granted, I didn’t like my paper that much, but I still tried. It hit at first; it stung. But then I was able to really celebrate Olivia and her accomplishment. Another example: scholarships — one of us will be awarded one, the other not. Sure, I can be let down that I didn’t earn something but still not let that take away from showing Olivia how proud I am of her.

JH: What’s the best thing about being in college with your twin?

OA: I think it’s just that we get to experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of college together. Would we be able to go to different colleges? Yes, if we had to. We definitely could do it. But it’s nice that we can share these memories. There are some things, obviously, that I’m just going to experience here and then things only Evelyn is going to experience, but it’s nice that sometimes, I don’t have to call or text Evelyn “Guess what happened today?” — we can both see it and be in the moment together.

THE ORSAK TWINS

REBECCA KLINGER // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE

Sierra Orsak ’22

Major: Business Analytics (with a concentration in Innovation & Entrepreneurship)

Organizations: Students for University Advancement and Tribe Innovation

Favourite Spot on Campus: the new swinging benches right next to James Blair Hall

Savannah Orsak ’22

Major: Design & Merchandising (Self-Designed)

Organisations: The Miller Entrepreneurship Center

Favourite Spot on Campus: Andrews Hall

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Zodiac: Aries

Least Favourite Twin Questions: “Who’s older” & “Do you guys fight?”

Favourite Twin Shows: New York Minute & Parent Trap

Classes taken together: three

Shared Fun Fact: their default fun fact is always that they are twins

JR Herman: Did you both always plan to attend college together, or did it happen organically?

Sierra Orsak: When we were both looking at schools, we didn’t necessarily have in mind that we wanted to go to the same school, but we had a lot of the same things that we wanted in a college. We both wanted a smaller community — we’re from Texas, and a lot of the Texas schools are very big.We knew we wanted something smaller, something that was academically rigorous but also a really great community and very people-centred. We toured schools in the Midwest, didn’t love them, and then we had a family friend just randomly recommend William and Mary. We’d never heard of it — people in Texas don’t know what it is. We toured William and Mary along with the University of Virginia (UVA) and Elon University, and we both just ended up liking it the most. We both applied Early Decision, and we both got in, so it wasn’t like we knew we both wanted to go together.

JH: Any funny stories of taking classes together at William and Mary?

Sie. O: When we were in Drawing and Colour, two months into the class the professor was taking role, and she just goes, “Did you guys know you have the same last name?” We were like, “Yes,” and she goes, “Wait, are you guys related.” And we were like, “We’re twins,” and the girl who sat next to us all year who we had made friends with goes, “Oh my gosh, you guys are sisters — I had no idea.”

JH: What was being in the same class together like?

Savannah Orsak: We definitely sat next to each other, but we also had friends in the class who we sat with. I feel my most vivid memory of being in a class together was Drawing in Colour — we set up our little easels next to each other. It’s just easy when you know someone in the class, like a friend that you go with, and your twin is your default bestie. So yeah, of course, you’re going to gravitate towards each other. We don’t study together, though, weirdly enough.

JH: How often do people mix you two up?

Sie. O: It’s very common for one of us to be walking and for someone to wave, smile, or say hi. A few times, someone will have started a conversation with one of us and it wasn’t until halfway through the conversation that we’re like, “Oh, they think I’m the other one.” And so you just play along, or you interrupt them: “I’m actually her sister.” But we’ve had many conversations about waving back to people we don’t know just in case — you don’t want to make your twin seem mean or anything when you just genuinely didn’t know they were trying to wave.

JH: When people can’t tell you apart, how do you explain who’s who? Do you have a rule like “I’m the _____” twin?

Sav. O: Well, now Sierra’s blonde, so “The blonde one is Sierra.” Sierra always dresses in more cool, dark tones, and I’m always in brighter tones. Sierra’s taller too — an inch and a half or so. But if you don’t see us together, you wouldn’t know that one is taller than the other. When we were in middle school, we had a friend that we’d known since elementary school, and he was like, “I can always tell you guys apart because Sierra has the football face and Savannah has a soccer ball face.” And to this day, our mom thinks that’s just the funniest, most accurate thing, so she still tells people that.

JH: Have you ever tried to look more or less alike with hair or dress styles?

Sie. O: When we were really little, I had bangs. I used to twirl my hair a lot, and the bangs were to get my hair out of my face so I wouldn’t twirl my hair as much. But it became our landmark. Sierra has bangs; Savannah doesn’t. And I say probably up until middle school that was a big thing for me. People knew me to be me because of my bangs, and then when I grew them out, it was something people had to get used to. But it wasn’t devastating or anything — it didn’t bug me that we looked more similar.

Sav. O: I always wore earrings, and there was a certain point where Sierra wanted to start wearing earrings, but she was like, “I’m worried people are going to think I’m you.”

Sie. O: People try to put you in a box so that they can tell the difference. We already view ourselves as individuals, so it’s not a big deal for us, but it’s more of “Is this going to confuse people if we change?” It’s never an internal thing.

JH: Any fun twin pranks?

Sav. O: We used to play basketball together, and on the court when we’re going really fast and they can’t see our numbers, our coaches would get confused, so we would wear a specific colour headband. And one day, we switched headbands to see if our coach would catch it. But we’ve never switched classes or anything, although one time, I took a class before Sierra did, and the professor was like, “I know that it was Sierra in class on Tuesday,” and I was like, “What are you talking about?” He goes, “I remember looking over and thinking, “She thinks that she’s tricking me, but I know that that’s not Savannah.” It was me in the class, but he was so convinced that we tried to switch him up and he caught it.

JH: Do you share friend groups? When there’s drama, does the other get involved?

Sav. O: We for the most part have the same friend group. We have acquaintances outside — Sierra has friends from certain places where I just don’t have that connection. If I saw them, I’d be friendly, but I just don’t know them as well as she does. And yeah, in the friend group, whenever there’s drama — I feel it doesn’t happen often — we definitely have an unfair advantage because we always know we’re going to be on the same team.

JH: Do you ever worry about hanging out too much with each other and not branching out enough?

Sav. O: I don’t want to speak for Sierra, but it was never really a concern of mine because we’re on different academic tracks, and in a normal day, we don’t see each other during the day. We’re involved in different things and work at different places.

Sie. O: It wasn’t a concern for me either. I think we both have a personality where we’re willing to make friends — we’ll engage with other people just because, so it was never hard for us to meet new people.

JH: Are your personalities very similar, or do you feel like you’re two very different people? What are your biggest personality differences?

Sie. O: We’re definitely similar in a lot of ways, but personality-wise, the things that make us different are that I’m a little more reserved and a little more stoic.

Sav. O: I’m a little more animated. Sierra means business, and I’m never really that focused.

JH: How do you maintain your own individualism while being a twin, especially since people know you sometimes as “Savannah’s twin” or “Sierra’s twin?”

Sav. O: For some people, I feel it would bother them, but if someone knew me as Sierra’s twin, I would take that as a compliment because they know me as Sierra’s twin and not Sierra. I think I just know that if I’m meeting someone who knows me as Sierra’s twin, eventually they’ll know me as myself rather than just as Sierra’s twin.

Sie. O: I would say it is different for some people, but we grew up in an environment where our mom was really intentional about making sure that we felt like individuals — we were never grouped together. We were never in an environment where someone was just like, “Oh, the twins” — it was always “Sierra and Savannah.” I don’t know if that helps for psychological development or anything, but I don’t think at any point in my life I felt like I wasn’t an individual.

JH: Do you have similar hobbies or tastes in music?

Sav. O: We have a lot of overlap — we’re best friends essentially, and you probably have things that are really similar about you and your best friend and then things that are really different. But overall, I feel Sierra’s more into things that are more underground, obscure, like indie. And I like everything.

JH: Have you ever worried about liking the same person?

Sav. O: I don’t think I’ve ever worried about it. We definitely find similar people attractive — there are definitely times where I’ll say, “Oh my god, he’s so cute” or something. But I don’t think actually liking- liking someone has ever overlapped. Never.

JH: Has a friend ever not liked your twin?

Sie. O: I don’t know if that’s ever happened, or at least that we knew about, but I think that if I had a friend that very obviously didn’t like Savannah, that would be a deal-breaker for me. If they don’t like Savannah, I wouldn’t really trust them because to me, I think Savannah’s great.

JH: Do you know where you’re going to be living next year?

Sav. O: Sierra actually has several offers lined up, so she’s deciding between [Washington] D.C. and New York, and I want to go to New York. If she decides to go to New York, then we’ll probably be living together. If not, we’ll just be a train ride away.

JH: Is the thought of living apart scary?

Sie. O: I wouldn’t say it’s scary as much as it’s just very different. We’d never really lived apart until this summer — Savannah lived in New York, and I lived in D.C. I did visit her twice, and it was wonderful going to see her. It wasn’t hard, but it was very different; I’m just used to always having Savannah around and being able to go talk to her.

Sav. O: If you’re moving away, like when you move away to college, it’s kind of scary because you and your high school friends are probably going to grow apart as you meet different people. With the twin, you know you’re not going to grow apart; it’s just a change. Until this summer, I didn’t realise how many things I rely on Sierra for — I’m very forgetful, and Sierra reminds me of a lot of stuff. Over the summer, I would forget things or forget to do stuff and be like, “Ugh, Sierra wasn’t there to remind me — that’s why I’m forgetting everything.”

JH: What’s the best part about going to the same college together, and are there any downsides?

Sie. O: This isn’t the case for all twins — we have met twins who aren’t friends, but in our case, we’re best friends, and so it’s just kind of like having a default best friend at the end of the day. Now, we live in the same house, but we don’t share a room, and we always had separate roommates, so it was always nice just to have a best friend when all else fails. I don’t know about downsides — I’d say maybe just the pressure of keeping up appearances, like if someone waves at you and you have no idea who it is, but even that isn’t a downside.

THE HAGGARD TWINS

ZACHARY LUTZKY // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE

Lauren Haggard ’22

Major: Marketing (with a concentration in Accounting) and a Psychology minor

Organizations: Student Marketing Association, Mason Mentor Program, Kappa Kappa Gamma, & off-campus jobs like babysitting

Favourite Spot on Campus: the B-School — the Raymond A. Mason School of Business

AC Haggard ’22

Major: Public Administration (Self-Designed) and a Management and Organizational Leadership Minor

Organizations: Mason Mentor Program & an off-campus job at Current Midtown Apartments

Favourite Spot on Campus: the tree by the Sir Christopher Wren Building

Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia

Zodiac: Gemini

Least Favourite Twin Question: “Can she feel what you’re feeling” & “Who’s the older sister?”

Favourite Twin Show: Anything Zack & Cody

Classes taken together: 0

Shared Fun Fact: Have the same birthday as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins from Full House

JR Herman: Did you two always want to go to college together, or did one twin follow the other?

Lauren Haggard: At first, AC really wanted to go to William and Mary. We toured, and we both really liked it, but she was very obsessed with it. I wanted to go to UVA and try to do something with business — I was really stuck on it for a while, and then it kind of hit me randomly one day that it would be weird if we weren’t together, just because at that point, we were very, very close in high school. We’re still very close, but in high school, we had all the same friends, we were both on cross country together, we shared a car, and obviously, we lived together. We were really inseparable, and I think making a jump from that to being in separate cities at different schools was just going to be a lot. It wasn’t a huge choice, but I thought it was the best choice if I just tried to go to William and Mary. In the end, we ended up applying Early Decision, and we both got in, so it worked out.

JH: Do people ever mix you two up?

AC Haggard: It actually does happen a lot. It used to be worse in high school because we were in the same friend group, and I think we were even more identical. We still are very similar personality-wise, but in college, we kind of branched off into our own people and solidified having identities apart from each other. I feel people don’t mix us up a lot, but when that does happen, it’s usually when my hair is up. I think it depends on the person. Sometimes I joke around with people — that happened to me the other day. Someone was like, “AC! Lauren!,” and I was like, “Well, which is it?” just to scare him a little bit. Other times I just go along with it. Sometimes I do get stuck. If someone’s talking to me for a really long time, and I have no idea who this person is, I’ll just pretend I’m Lauren, because, at this point, I’m just in too deep. I can’t go back.

LH: Also, at William and Mary at least, people would rather not say our names than get it wrong. At other places, people don’t really care about getting it wrong, but I guess William and Mary people are just conscious about it.

JH: Do you ever try to look more or less similar to each other, like different hairstyles, just for easier identification?

LH: In high school, we definitely tried to do that. We were very into trying to look different — we always had very different hair colours or one short, one long, something like that. Both of us have dyed our hair like a million times, just to make it really simple for people. In college though, we just don’t really care about that stuff. We’re just going to wear our hair however.

JH: What’s the best thing about going to college with your twin?

AH: There are so many. I feel like when so many people go to college it’s their first real time away from home — that’s how it was for us. We’d never really done huge sleep-away camps or anything before, and then we’re going to college, and it’s so brand new. It was like I had a built-in best friend. We didn’t live together freshman year, but it was fun; it made it a lot easier for us because Lauren could introduce me to people, and I could introduce her to people. It’s always been a level of comfort. And now we’ve lived together for the last two years which has been so nice — we just live together really well. You don’t have any of those stressors.

JH: How have you balanced branching out versus being together?

LH: We didn’t want to room together freshman or sophomore year because we thought that would be too much togetherness. We both went through recruitment our freshman year for sororities, and that was a big thing for us because we joined different sororities and made groups of friends that were really different. And then obviously, what we were interested in career-wise was really different. We just kept branching off — it just kind of happened slowly and naturally.

JH: Do you share most of your friends?

AH: We have a lot of group chats where it’s just us and one other person. It’s just kind of how we’ve grown up. In college now, we have a lot of friends that we share, but we definitely do have those separate relationships.

LH: I feel it’s nice when people get to know both of us — this year we’re living with seven other people, and they were separate friends, but now, we’re all kind of intertwined.

JH: Do you ever worry that someone likes your twin more than you?

LH: There are definitely people who just prefer one of us over the other. But I don’t really find it a big deal.

AH: It’s just natural. Lauren’s boyfriend obviously likes her more than me. And it’s not like I’m hurt about that.

JH: Have you ever liked the same person?

LH: We’ve thought people were cute, but we’ve never been like, “Oh, I seriously like the same person.”

AH: It’s kind of girl code.

LH: I have a long-term boyfriend, and AC would literally never date him. And I know she would, like, rather die over date him — I know that nothing would ever happen. No thoughts. I feel we’re into very different people. It works out. I’m glad we don’t have similar tastes.

JH: Do you ever try twin pranks on your friends?

LH: We do them, just small things. AC answers my phone a lot. Over the phone we sound exactly alike, so she’ll answer the phone or stuff like that. It’s not like we plan it or anything. I think we used to — one or two times, we tried to switch spots in class, and it worked because no one could tell us apart, but we don’t really do stuff like that anymore.

JH: Are your personalities very similar? What’s your biggest personality difference?

LH: I feel on base values, we’re the same, but then we definitely have different personalities. I know AC’s more sarcastic and wittier than I am, and funnier, I’d say. AC’s more serious. I’m a little bit more lighthearted. We’re both pretty studious. And I feel extroverted/introverted-wise we’re pretty similar. There definitely are differences though — when I think of AC, I think of her as being very different from me.

JH: How does each of you maintain your own individualism while being a twin?

LH: Just having enough separation from each other. AC and I really like to do stuff together, but sometimes it’s like, “Oh, wait, even though it’s awesome doing stuff with AC all the time, sometimes I do need a separate space from her that doesn’t involve her.” I know it’s always easier and fun, but also it’s good to have a separate space to make your own memories. It’s kind of tough.

JH: Do you share clothes?

LH: Yeah, we’re the same size and everything so we still do that all the time. In high school, it was weird when we were moving to college — we had never not shared a closet because one of our rooms just had a bigger closet. And then we had to physically separate it, and I remember that was really hard, and I go, “I know no one else is having to do this.” But we had to be like, “I want those jeans.”

JH: Are you two going to be living in the same area after you graduate?

AH: I guess this kind of ties everything we’ve been talking about together, this whole journey we had growing up, between staying so close and also diverging and having our own experiences. This past summer, we both worked for Amazon — the same internship programme but different sectors. We actually were put into two different cities, and I had never gone more than a week or two without seeing Lauren my whole life. It was a pretty dramatic change for us. Lauren was in Baltimore; I was in Charlotte, and we both had really, really great experiences growth-wise, and we both have gotten job offers out of those jobs. We had a conversation midway through the summer, and we both were like, “Yeah, we want to move to North Carolina and be together.” That was our goal, and we just made it happen for each other.

LH: We’re planning on living together starting off, to save money and for the support — after college, I feel moving to a new state is big. I feel like we’ve shared the same experience, and we’re really able to bounce off each other.