The Grewe twins, seniors Ian Grewe and Lucas Grewe, nearly inseparable since birth, so alike yet different all at once.
“I don’t think we share the exact same personality, but we definitely share many of the same interests. Just like how regular humans always have differences,” Ian Grewe said.
While Ian Grewe is more extroverted and talkative, Lucas Grewe is more introverted and a listener.
“When we were born, my mom painted my toenails red to differentiate us because we look so similar,” Ian Grewe said.
As the twins grew up, they began wearing different color shoes and glasses for others to differentiate them, with Lucas often sticking to a blue theme and Ian wearing something else. Overtime, Lucas has also developed a deeper voice. Yet these are only some outside factors that distinguish the two.
Although in everyday lives, the Grewes seem to appear in pairs, they are different individuals in the digital world. While Lucas finds it fascinating investing his time exploring roller coaster rides from different places online, Ian enjoys watching videos of track and cross country meets and analysis, studying different runners’ statistics from across the state.
“With this new era of technology, we have taken advantage of the media to explore new things. Having the chance to explore our own interests online makes us branch out from each other…I think it just shows our passion for different things,” Ian Grewe said.
The Grewes are able to peel-off the label of “twins” and truly be themselves without being always tied to one another online.
Lucas Grewe expressed his dislike for the stereotype that twins communicate telepathically or share identical thoughts and feelings just because they are twins. According to him, twins understand each other just slightly better than regular siblings normally would.
“When something happens, I look at Ian and he kind of understands how I feel, in the same way… [during the pandemic in freshman year, when] we’re sitting right next to each other for online school. During gym class, we’d have to do exercises. When Ian expressed the face of ‘oh no,’ I felt the same emotions in me, too,” Lucas Grewe said.
Ian Grewe agreed, suggesting that their close bond was likely formed over a lifetime of knowing and growing up together.
“Sometimes our parents don’t really understand it as well as we do,” Ian Grewe said. “I think we’ve gotten closer [through the pandemic]. But I think that also kind of made us want to get away from each other and go on our own paths with each other rather than doing everything together. Because I think we’ve done enough of that already.”
The Grewes want to go to different colleges, yet both manage for the cross country team.
“We definitely want to [continue] sharing the same passions, but we’re gonna be with different people. We’re probably still going to communicate with each other [during the process], but I’m kind of interested in how much we are going to change,” Lucas Grewe said.
It’s going to feel weird not always being called by each other’s names for the first time, but it’s definitely something both twins look forward to. Still sharing the same passion and doing the same thing, but this time is different; the Grewes will now be at different places navigating their own identity.
