“She says sometimes she knows me better than I know myself,” Emily Gelinas said.

For Gelinas, a freshman, her new college experience has come with an additional hardship; being separated from her fraternal twin sister Sandy. Born one minute earlier on Dec. 19, 1987, Emily is the “quiet one.  [Sandy] is the more outgoing type, but we’re both friendly.”

There some similarities between the twins, however; both were cheerleaders for Canandaigua Academy, and they played soccer together when they were younger as well.  

Both Sandy and Emily are into politics; although Emily is “not as interested as she is… she’s hardcore.” Sandy was actively involved in student government in high school, and even met President Bush.  Emily can  recall their mom dressing them alike for holidays in the “same clothes, just different colors” when they lived in Hilton, N.Y. 

Living in Hilton, NY until the middle of fourth grade, Emily and Sandy only spent two years in separate classes during primary and elementary school.

Moving to Canandaigua at the end of that year, Emily recalls that they always had “the same classes, but at different times” in middle school and continuing up to high school.  She feels this was beneficial if a question needed to be answered, or “if we absolutely needed to copy each other’s homework.” 

Being together for so many years has created closeness even within their social group.

 “We’ve always had the same friends, so even if we hung out with other people, we would always be in the same place,” Emily said. “We would always hang out with the neighbor kids, but we would always get together [so] there was always someone there if you were bored, you can always hang out.”

This was present in her family as well, creating a sort of alliance with Sandy against their other three sisters. “Since we all picked on each other - friendly,” she adds, “Sandy and I always used to gang up on someone else as a pair.”

The thought of not being a twin had never crossed Emily’s mind before. “I think it would be weird not being a twin because I’ve never experienced it, but I like being a twin a lot,” said Emily.

 She cares about her sister a great deal. “Sometimes, I feel her approval is more important than other people’s. Even for little stuff like clothes.  I value her a lot,” Emily said.

Nowadays, with Emily going to college here at St. John Fisher, and Sandy attending University of Rochester, things are a bit different for the two.  “It was so weird not having her around all the time,” Emily said. 

Although Emily and Sandy have always shared a bedroom, she “didn’t really mind because we shared all the same clothes so we would go in each other’s closets.” 

“Things are really different, but nice to get away, but I do miss living with her,” Emily said.  She was lucky, because she “began to get used to it at home” when Sandy had left for college four days before. 

Although they are separated, Sandy is a mere 10 minutes away and “we’ve already spent a couple of weekends together,” so Emily feels like they still are as close as ever. 

Talking daily on the internet, e-mails, and phone calls help as well.  It was harder in the beginning; “I remember when we said goodbye and I started crying.  Well she did too,” she added with a smile.  Once she got to Fisher, however, “so many people from Canandaigua were here so it helped.”

Ultimately it was their differences that led them to U of R and Fisher.  Sandy recently changed her major to education, as she wants to be a school principal, and Emily is majoring in business. 

 “We never planned to go to the same college, but if it ends that way, so be it,” Emily said.

When they began to apply to schools, they found that many were the same.  In fact, Emily had to choose between U of R and Fisher.  She ultimately chose Fisher, and she is happy in her decision. 

“We know each other so well and we haven’t been separated till now, so I feel we have a really deep connection,” Emily said. She knows she will stay very close to her sister, and hopes that they live near each other so their kids can be close.

STAFF WRITER
SARAH JONES
Email address: slj06863@sjfc.edu