April 2004

Asana Mohamad • Double Take

This semester, for the first time, Fuseina and I are not taking any classes together. After our first semester, when we took only one class (pre-calculus) together, we decided that it would be easier just to be in the same classes. The biggest problem was not that we couldn’t bear to be apart, but that it was rather awkward for other students to come up to the wrong twin outside of class and start a conversation.

That first semester, some guy saw me on the bus and asked, “So what’d you think of the test?”

I had no idea what he was talking about, because I hadn’t had any test in any classes yet. So I asked, “What test?”

"The computer test,” he replied.

I was a little confused for a second before I remembered that Fuseina was taking computer and that she’d said something about a test. “Oh, no,” I said. “I have a twin sister; she’s taking computer.”

As you can imagine, there was a very uncomfortable silence.

From then on, Fuseina and I decided to take as many classes together as possible. Since our majors are somewhat similar (she’s a computer science and pre-med, while I’m pre-dentistry/math), it wasn’t too hard. But now our professors and TAs have to try to keep us straight in class—especially ones in which participation counts.

I remember one chemistry lab. The first day, our TA explained what the class was about and what was expected. It was important that we do our experiments carefully and correctly, she stressed. Then she told the class that it would be considered plagiarism if we copied answers from each other or from people who had taken the class previously, and if we were caught doing this there would be severe consequences.

As everyone was packing up their stuff and leaving, she came up to Fuseina and me and said, “I know you two are sisters, but please don’t share answers or copy.”

I was shocked. What made her think that just because we’re twins we feel that the do-your-own-work rule does not apply to us? Did she think that throughout primary, middle, and high school years we’d been doing each other’s work?

I think we were both too stunned to say anything, so we mumbled something to the effect of “Yeah, OK,” and left.

There’s no chance of that happening this semester. It’s been a little depressing, since we both get up at six in the morning and don’t see each other again until about five in the evening. But it’s not unbearable—I’ve made friends with a few people in my classes, so I don’t get a chance to miss Fuseina much. It also gives us something to talk about while we eat dinner. Afterwards, we normally study and then go to bed, so we’re only really paying attention to each other about three hours a day during the week. But we make up for it on the weekends—as you’ll see from my next journal entry.