Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a twin? To have another person who looks exactly like you, sounds like you, maybe even acts the same as you do? Thankfully, Biola’s got plenty of pairs, and a few of them sat down to shed light on the life of a double.

Life with one another continues into college

Kylie and Keaton Tyndall, twin sisters and juniors at Biola, share not only majors in intercultural studies, but also a passion for missions. Both work for the Student Missionary Union here on campus. While they admit to having other similar interests such as music and traveling, their personalities are rather different.

“Kylie’s a lot more introverted, and more selective in her passions, whereas I kind of like to jump in everywhere. We share some [passions] but we’re different in the way we approach life,” Keaton Tyndall said.

Originally from a town near Pasadena, Keaton Tyndall’s second major is business, and Kylie Tyndall’s is psychology. They both enjoy reading, and Kylie mentioned a specific enjoyment for photography and playing piano in her spare time, while Keaton mentioned her love of cooking.

Ending up together at Biola was not exactly the Tyndalls’ plan. They both knew they wanted to go to Christian colleges, Keaton Tyndall said, but did not want to influence the other’s decision, and so they kept their choice a secret until both had made a final decision.

“Biola for us was a school that had strong biblical truth that was integrated really well. And I know that compared to other Christian colleges that we visited, we didn’t really feel like a lot of the students were living out their faith as well as Biola, and we both respect people who live out their faith,” Kylie Tyndall said.

Sophomore twins Sarah and Emma Aungst, Christian ministries majors, were not planning on attending the same college. Though they both eventually felt called to Biola, they chose not to be roommates these last two years.

“Being in different dorms has been a total blessing. I appreciate Sarah so much more than [when I am] constantly with her,” Emma Aungst said. “It makes me realize that Sarah was a great roommate.”

Embracing the twin lifestyle

Twin brothers Jacob and Joshua Rancharan, sophomores from Pomona, have been roommates for the majority of their lives — including their two years so far at Biola. Both are on the track team, they have almost all the same classes, and they even eat breakfast together every morning. When asked about their decision to apply to and come to Biola, the brothers said it was the only school to which they applied.

“There was no doubt we were going to the same school,” said Jacob Rancharan, a psychology  major. “We wanted to go together to look out for each other. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

Joshua Rancharan, a communications major, said he has heard some of the most ridiculous questions about being a twin. Even when standing next to his brother, Joshua Rancharan’s been asked first if they were twins and second if they were identical.

Jacob Rancharan added a few more bizarre questions to the mix:

“If I hit you, will he feel it? That is the worst one — I’m serious, we’re not aliens or something,” Jacob Rancharan said. “Or, ‘Can you guys read each other’s minds?’”

While they share many similar interests, such as skateboarding, making cakes, writing, cooking and video games, Jacob Rancharan said they have a different tastes in women and music. Even in their shared sport of track and field, Joshua Rancharan is a hurdler while Jacob Rancharan is a sprinter. And while Joshua Rancharan has broken bones before, Jacob Rancharan has never broken a bone in his life.

Despite the differences, Jacob and Joshua Rancharan love being twins. 

“I couldn’t live without my twin,” Joshua Rancharan said. “I would hate life without my twin. He’s my support system, my best friend, that’s my rock, the person I confide in the most out of everyone, the person I know is always going to be there at the end of the day.”

His brother agreed.

“He understands me better than anyone else can,” he said.

Different schools, different story

Not only does Biola have sets of twins both enrolled as students, but there are also twins here divided from their other half for the first time.

Hailing from Portland, Ore., junior philosophy major Will Abraham and his twin brother were separated for the first time during freshman year of college.

“It was kind of hard; at the same time though it was kind of nice to have an identity that was not associated with somebody else, because prior to that we were always ‘John and Will,’” Abraham said.

Will and his brother are what are known as “mirror twins,” with Will being left-handed and John right-handed. As for their personalities, Will admitted to being somewhat more shy than his brother. And though they have many interests in common, Will prefers snowboarding while his brother prefers to surf.

Like all twins, Will and his brother have been asked some absurd questions.

“The one that I think is really frustrating is ‘How do you tell the difference between the two of you?’ and I just go, ‘Well, it’s pretty easy, I wake up and I only have one person to tell the difference between,’” Abraham said. “We made jokes about writing a book of all the stupid things people have asked us.”

Even with his brother living back in their hometown working as a youth pastor, the separation has not changed Will’s perspective on being a twin and the blessing it is.

“I’m so thankful that I have a twin … [it’s] the Lord’s goodness being fully known but not invaded, I guess would be the best way to put that,” Abraham said.

Julia Bates, a senior communications major who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, explained that being separated from her twin sister, who attends Azusa Pacific University, has been one of her most difficult and strange experiences.

“It was weird coming to school, and it was the first time we had ever been apart … and even though APU is only 30 minutes away, it still felt like an eternity away just because we weren’t together,” Bates said.

Bates explained that she and her sister share a love of women’s professional soccer and a unique sense of humor.

“Twins are so similar in a lot of aspects, but we’re totally different people, God made us totally different, we have different passions, we want to do different things,” Bates said.

Going to different colleges has given both her and her sister the ability to become the individuals God created them to be, but Bates said the distance has not changed their close relationship.

“Twins is such a unique relationship,” Bates said. “We definitely share everything with each other, and it’s hard because we’re apart … I think it’s a gift that I’m a twin.”