[BU Today] What’s it Like to be a Twin? Elise and Leah Tringale (SHA’18) Tell All
Identical Twins
Birthday: April 2, 1996
Hometown: Winchester, Mass.
Do you have similar interests and do a lot of things together?
Elise and Leah: We both love cooking, working out, trying different restaurants, and traveling. For the most part, we have the same friends. One of us will usually make a friend, then within a short time, we will all be friends.
As identical twins, did people often confuse you? Do people still confuse you? Did you ever pretend to be your twin?
Elise and Leah: People confuse us on a daily basis. When we go out together on weekends, we will get asked if we are twins dozens of times. Sometimes we will say no just to throw people off guard. And yes, we’ve pretended to be each other. When we were in second grade, we switched classes and got into so much trouble that our parents had to leave work and come to the principal’s office. We also switched classes in middle school all the time, but never got caught.
Did you consciously decide to both attend BU or did you both wind up here accidentally?
Elise and Leah: We applied to all of the same schools and would not have split up.
What has it been like having your twin at the same school?
Elise and Leah: Coming to BU together made the transition so much easier; we had an automatic roommate who we knew we’d get along with. Throughout our four years we have always lived together and we’ve even had several classes together. Most (if not all) of our School of Hospitality Administration professors have been able to tell us apart: a special shout-out to Professor Oshins and Professor Bagnera, who could tell us apart from day one.
Some twins say they share a kind of telepathy—if one feels pain, the other does too. Have you ever experienced that?
Elise and Leah: We have had professors and high school teachers tell us that we both chose to sit in the exact same seat when we were in different class periods. There have been nights where we both had dreams about the same thing. We can tell when the other is happy, upset, or annoyed without even expressing it verbally. Perhaps that’s just due to spending so much time with each other.
Being a twin is…
Elise and Leah: A gift.
For more twin stories, read the full article on BU Today.
Jackie Ricciardi can be reached at jricc@bu.edu. Sara Dyer West can be reached at shdyer@bu.edu.