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The Wichitan October 28, 2009
Campus briefs
News
Blaze of Pride
Wednesday
• Moffet Library 8th Annual Book Plating and Reception at 3 p.m.
Thursday
• Athletic luncheon at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU at noon. • Haunted House for MSU students, faculty and staff in McCoullough Hall at 8 p.m.
Sunday
• Priority Application Deadline for Spring
Monday
• MSU/SAFB Thanksgiving Food Drive from Monday to Wednesday
Tuesday
• TACT Brown Bag Luncheon in CSC Kiowa at 12:15 p.m. • Faculty Forum Series: Charles Darwin at 200 in CSC Shawnee at 7 p.m.
Photo by Julia Raymond
TWINS........................................................................................................................................................................................continued from pg. 1 Despite being alike in so many ways, these sets of twins couldn’t be more opposite. Cassie and Corrie For Cassie , the decision to go to a different college than her sister was an easy one. She was ready to take on college without her sister, especially after she saw MSU. “My sister got accepted to the honors program at TAMU Commerce. I went down and looked at the campus and decided I couldn’t survive there,” Cassie said. “I found MSU and loved it. Although, once I decided to go here she started considering coming here and I kind of shooed her away from that idea.” “This was my school,” she said with a laugh. While some parents encourage their children to attend the same school, Cassie’s parents left it up to their girls and fully supported their decisions. “Since we were in first grade they put us in separate classes unless it was necessary,” she said. “We got to become our own individuals that way.” Despite the sisters attending separate universities, they have chosen the same major, psychology. “We both took a psychology class in high school and found it interesting,” Cassie recalled. “However, she wants to study adolescent psychology, whereas I am interested in childhood psychology.” In high school, the girls had many of the same friends. Cassie admitted she got tired of it and wanted to become her own per-
son and have her own set of friends in college. However, the path to making new friends isn’t always the easiest. “The first day of (color) guard was very hard,” she recalled. “I didn’t have any friends. But eventually I started to meet people and it just became easier and easier. Now I have found my niche.” If Corrie would have came to MSU, Cassie felt she wouldn’t have gone out and made friends. Despite the three hours distance between them, the sisters manage to stay pretty close by talking on the phone and chatting through Facebook. One topic that makes its way into the conversations is grades. Cassie grinned. “We are extremely competitive when it comes to grades and pretty much everything.” Even though only a few months have passed in the semester, Cassie feels she has become more of an individual without Corrie around her. She has even stopped referring to herself as a twin unless asked. Even though Cassie and Corrie have become independent of each other, they still laugh at instances when people confused them for each other and asked unintelligent questions. On one occasion, their pediatrician tried to set them up with twin boys. Julia and Kelly Kelly, a nursing major, and Julia, who is still deciding on her major, are mirror twins. Mirror twins are identical, but the dominants in their hands and
feet are opposite. Julia is lefthanded, whereas Kelly is dominant in her right hand. “It is actually kind of crazy,” Julia said. “Our dominant eyesight is opposite as well as our wisdom teeth. I only had mine on one side, where she had hers on the other.” Kelly and Julia graduated from Burkburnett High School, but it has been a long journey to get to MSU. Kelly and Julia’s parents were in the Air Force when the girls were born in San Angelo, Texas, but the family wasn’t there for long. They then lived in Florida, Germany, Hawaii and Japan. “We were in Tokyo for three and a half years,” Kelly said. “Out of all the places we have lived, it was my favorite.” “It was like living in a video game,” she said, grinning. “The city is amazing.” Julia, however, favored their residence in Hawaii the most. “It is a beautiful place to live,” she said. “We were there at the best time too. We were ages 10, 11, 12 and 13. At that age you don’t have too much responsibility so you can just roam the city and explore.” Through all the moves and adjusting, Kelly and Julia have always had each other to rely on. After living in Tokyo until the girls were in tenth grade, their father was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Burkburnett, where they have resided for the past two years. But, only a few weeks after Kelly and Julia moved into their dorm rooms, their parents moved again, this
time to Colorado. Even though they have moved from place to place together, the last place the girls wanted to move was into the same room. It didn’t happen but it was a close call. “The Housing office assigned us in room’s right next to each other, which was pretty cool,” Julia said. For these freshmen, Kelly, older by 11 minutes, settled on MSU before Julia had come close to making her decision. “I was already planning on coming here so having her here is just a benefit,” Kelly said. They settled into college life, quickly becoming involved in multiple activities on campus, including regular games ultimate frisbee. “Sometimes people we are playing with will pass the Frisbee to Julia when I’m the one on their team,” Kelly said, laughing. “Even people who have known us for a couple of years will do it, or call us the wrong name.” Even though they share similar interests, these brown-eyed girls are not that competitive except when it comes to sports and fun activities. “When it comes to grades, we are definitely not competitive, but at roller-skating, absolutely,” Julia said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. Susie and Nadia Even though Nadia stands three inches above her sister, Susie entered the world three minutes before her. Despite their similar facial features, including a strong bone
structure, hazel eyes and curly dark brown hair, Susie and Nadia are not identical. Still even after three and a half years at MSU, students and friends still confuse one for the other. “One time I had a conversation with somebody in the student center and they thought I was Susie the whole time,” Nadia recalled. “I thought it was weird because I had no idea who they were. I just thought they were really friendly.” After living in separate rooms for three years, the seniors are living together for the first time because their parents didn’t want to pay two separate rents. “We don’t get along living together,” Susie admitted. “I’ve lived with her for 18 years and the separation made us closer. But even though we live together, I barely ever see her.” When the now 21-year-old sisters were looking at colleges, they both attended a college fair and agreed they liked MSU, but Susie said she applied and got accepted first. “(Nadia) just followed me here,” she said jokingly. Despite their closeness in appearances, these girls couldn’t be more different in interests, as well as majors. Nadia is a management information system major, whereas Susie is pursuing a major in the mass communication field. “We have completely different friends and aren’t really interested in the same things,” Nadia said. However, she believes that since they do not hang out as
23,246
Total number of visits by students, faculty, staff, and alumni to the Student Wellness Center during September.
much, their relationship is more mature. “We don’t have any more stupid fights,” she said. “I believe we have grown closer since our freshman year,” Susie said. “We have both been through a lot together in the past four years.” A year ago their mother was diagnosed with esophagus cancer. “It was hard to be away from our mom during that time, but it helped to have Nadia here with me,” Susie said quietly. “We became closer since we had each other while we were away from her.” “We know we’re going to always be there for each other,” Nadia said, smiling at her sister. Friends Forever, Twins for Life Despite their differences, physical and emotional, Kelly and Julia, as well as Nadia and Susie, enjoy sharing one more thing with their sisters. “It is good having my sister here,” Kelly said. “I have a piece of my family here to lean on.” However, after only a half of a semester at MSU, Cassie is happy with her choice to separate from her sister. “I think that twins should separate and go to different colleges because this is when you find yourself and who you want to be,” Cassie said. “And eventually, you will no longer be known just as a twin.”