Morgan and McKenzie Wren are identical twins, but they take different approaches when it comes to meeting new people. - Photo by Jessica Van Alstyne
A look at similarities and differences of Tech’s own multiples
KELSY KERSHAW
Staff Reporter
A best friend that never leaves, an undoubted roommate, the only person who can read her mind and push all of her buttons. These are terms McKenzie Wren used to describe her twin sister, Morgan.
The Wren sisters are sophomores from Minden both majoring in the medical field: McKenzie in kinesiology and Morgan in biology.
The two were extremely close growing up and still are to this day, McKenzie said.
“We can share a glance and instantly know what the other one is thinking,” she said. “Our mom always dressed us the same, too.”
McKenzie said the two did everything together and still do most of the time.
“We share the same car thanks to our parents, so wherever I go she goes and vice versa,” McKenzie said.
Morgan said occasionally the two would split up but never longer than two days.
“We are pretty much yin and yang,” she said. “We completely understand each other.”
Doing everything together carried from high school into college with them, Morgan said.
“We never even considered going to different colleges,” she said. “We know we’ll eventually go on to different schools because we’ll be training in different specialties, but it was never a question for our first year.”
Sometimes Morgan said she forgets they are twins. She said it is basically the same as having a sister but on a deeper mental level.
“I know absolutely everything about her and how she is feeling or will feel about something,” she said. “She’s like my best friend but multiply that by 100.”
Being a twin is not really different than having a sibling you are close to, McKenzie said.
“It’s like being with your best friend constantly but not getting tired of them hanging around,” she said. “Yet you can tell them to leave and not feel bad about it.”
The good thing about the Wren sisters is they are more alike than different, McKenzie said.
“We have the same style, same taste in boys and stuff like that,” she said. “My sister is more laid back than me, however, and does things at her own pace, which is so annoying because I like to get things done and get stressed easily.”
McKenzie said there is only one other significant difference between them regarding their personalities.
“Morgan is very funny and always a chatter box, even with strangers,” she said. “For me, I’m only like that once I get to really know you.”
Morgan said she and her sister enjoy the same things and share the same sense of humor. They also share their competitiveness, she added.
“Growing up and still today, we can be very competitive with our grades,” she said. “Our parents always expect them to be the same because we’re twins, but it doesn’t work that way.”
Morgan said she is just as smart, if not smarter, than her sister but she’s a bad test taker. McKenzie said her sister cries when McKenzie makes A’s.
Competing with their grades is just one thing they enjoy doing together, McKenzie said.
Matthew and Ashleigh Stinson are fraternal twins who have come to cherish each others companionship over time. - Photo by Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay
“We love watching movies and TV shows together because we get really into them,” she said. “We love to have singing matches in the car, too.”
They also love to travel together, goof off, take pictures and explore, Morgan added.
“It’s weird to think about the future and realize we’ll have to move away from each other,” she said. “My whole 20 years on Earth have been spent right next to her.”
She said they each feel what the other feels.
“It’s nice to know I will always have someone around when I need them,” she said.
McKenzie agreed but said there are times when they want to kill each other.
“If I weren’t her twin, who would Morgan make listen to One Direction all day?” she said.
Morgan said they are very close.
“We connect in that weird twin telepathy kind of way,” she said.
Matthew Stinson, a senior mechanical engineering major, said that twin telepathy does not always work.
He and his twin sister Ashleigh are both seniors from Sibley. Ashleigh Stinson is a psychology major.
Like the Wren twins, they were very close in their first eight to 10 years, Ashleigh said, but things started to change in middle school and high school.
“We started to hang out with different groups,” she said. “Now that we are in college, we have gotten a lot closer again and realized that we don’t have to be around each other and hang out all the time to be close.”
She said things are very different for them because they are different genders.
“Things got tough in middle school,” she said. “I had dance and he had band.”
She said they started having separate agendas and it was not only difficult on them, but their parents as well.
“What made it even more difficult was when we shared a car the year we turned 16,” Ashleigh said.
Other than the obvious, Matthew said they have always been really different.
“I played in the band, majored in engineering and like vegetables,” he said. “Ashleigh was a cheerleader and a dancer, majored in psychology and eats mac and cheese.”
Ashleigh said she agrees with her twin because she is more into dance and art where as Matthew is more into math and science.
“I feel like he is more outgoing and funny while I’m introverted and not funny at all,” she said.
A lot of these differences are because they are different genders, Ashleigh said.
The two may share more differences than the Wren sisters but they do share the same competitive nature, she said.
“When we were little we would play on the PlayStation and see who would have the fastest car, shoot the most bad guys or be the best at golf,” she said. “I also tried to do better in school but I’m not so sure that mattered to him.”
That competitive edge has kind of disappeared since they are older now, Ashleigh added.
She said they enjoy the time they spend together since it does not happen as often now.
“Sometimes we study together,” she said. “When we go home we like to play basketball, play the Wii or play on our pinball machines.”
They probably would not have grown as close as they have if Ashleigh had not transferred schools.
“I originally went to ULM my freshman year to be on the dance line,” she said. “All my friends were going there too, but I ended up not liking it.”
Her brother suggested Tech to her, so she said she visited the campus.
“Matt enjoyed it here, so I decided to come, too,” Ashleigh said. “It was one of the best decisions of my life.”
Though Matthew and Ashleigh have more differences than the Wren sisters, they still share that strong best friend-like bond, she said.
“Twins can’t really read each other’s minds,” Ashleigh said. “At least, that is what Matt tells me via ESP.”
Email comments to kjk...@latech.edu.
