By Carlina Grillo

Ever seen a classmate who seems to be in two places at once? 

They could be a track star, master of teleportation, hologram – or more simply, a twin. 

The chances of being an identical twin are three or four in 1000, but what are the odds of both twins going to the same college, or more specifically, a small university tucked away in the redwood forest of Northern California?

Without a school-wide survey asking about twins, it’s hard to say, but there are at least a few pairs of identical twins right here on campus. 

Marley and Wiley Thrift are a pair of sophomore computer science majors who grew up in Humboldt, and didn’t think much about going to the same college. 

“Both of our parents work here, it was an easy choice to go to Humboldt,” Wiley Thrift said. “Our dad works in computer science, so that’s kind of where we got the inspiration from.”

According to Wiley, the difference between being twins in highschool and college is mostly the size of campus and the larger population. It doesn’t always come up in conversation at first, so there will always be confusion.

“If I see somebody that Marley knows on campus and they wave to me, I usually just wave back but I don’t know the person,” Wiley Thrift said. “If they try to talk to me, I’ll say ‘I’m not Marley,’ and it’s a little awkward, but it’s kind of funny too because I know it’s happened before, and I know what’s happening.”

Hunter and Tanner Circe are seniors majoring in environmental studies who also grew up in Humboldt and went to highschool in Mckinleyville.

“It’s easy to have a built-in roommate… because neither of us really had the desire to live with other people,” Tanner Circe said. “It just kind of made sense.”

“We also rent from our parents in Arcata, so It’s a convenient reason to go to Cal Poly [Humboldt],” Hunter Circe said. 

The Circes have a similar experience to the Thrifts, describing the same situation of people approaching the wrong twin. 

“It’s like talking to a lot more strangers because he knows them,” Hunter Circe said. “This is our experience, it’s not unique [to us].”

“You’re walking by and people will just look, and you know you’re getting the look like, ‘Oh, they’re twins,’” Tanner Circe said. 

In many ways, the media has portrayed twins to be a certain way and check certain boxes. This causes a constant flow of stereotypical questions from peers.

“I’m tired of, ‘Is one of you evil? Do you feel each other’s pain?’ It’s just so silly to me,” Hunter Circe said. “People like to put us in like ‘box A’ and ‘box B’. Like, ‘he’s the artsy one,’ or ‘he’s the sporty one…’ Why does there have to be ‘the one?’”

“We’re siblings who look the same,” Tanner Circe said. “Its’ unique but… a little bit mystified on TV and stuff.”

At the end of the day, twins are just like any other siblings, but the same age.

“I think it’s a lot more similar to normal siblings than people realize,” Tanner Circe said. “[People think] it’s this mystical thing, but really, I think it’s just from growing up together.”

For all these siblings, the future is still unwritten. 18 days is the longest time the Thrifts have spent apart, but they plan on extending that time next semester, with many miles in between.

Both Marley Thrift and Tanner Circe have plans to travel abroad while their twins stay in California. 

“Being a twin’s great, you should try it,” Marley Thrift said.