Twinning at RCHS
By Maddy Merritt, RCHS intern writer; courtesy photos
The Price twins: Claire (left) and Lily (right).
According to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of twin births rose 76% from 1980 to 2009. The children that were born toward the latter part of that time frame are now in high school. Throughout the halls of Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) several sets of twins, both fraternal and identical, support this statistic. Identical twins’ DNA is 100% the same, and they are born the same sex and looking exactly alike. Over time, differences in lifestyle and environment can cause their likeness to change. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, share 50% of the same DNA and can look entirely different and be a different sex.
National Twin Day is December 18. The Connection did a Q&A with two sets of Castle Pines community identical twins. Claire and Lily Price and Connor and Andrew Woodring are all juniors at RCHS.
The Woodring twins: Andrew (left) and Connor (right).
Q: What is it like being a twin?
“It’s like having a best friend that comes with life, and someone you can always depend on,” said Lily. “It’s also really fun to have a sibling the exact same age. I turn to either [of] our names because people mix us up all the time. It’s just become a reflex.”
Q: Do people treat you like you’re the same person?
“People confuse us, but most of the time we don’t look that much alike… I get called Andrew sometimes,” Connor said. “People treat us like we’re the same person when they don’t know us.”
Q: What do you wish people knew about being a twin?
“That it is weird. I spend 10 hours with my twin on a daily basis, [but] we don’t have the same friend group,” Andrew said.
Q: What is your favorite thing about having a twin?
“For me, I think it’s having a best friend,” Claire said. “We’ve known each other for as long as we’ve been alive. We have always been very close. I also enjoy sharing a birthday.”
