For years I have been fascinated by that mysterious quirk of nature called twins. In my family, there are several sets of identical twins, and I have always concentrated on their similarities. I did not realize that identical twins also have many differences. My identical twin cousins, SháMyra and SháMyree, appear to be perfect mirror images. They love to dress alike. They can feel each other's pain. They sound alike and can complete each other's sentences. But upon taking a closer look, I have found that they are as different as day and night. Aside from SháMyra and SháMyree's outward characteristics, they possess several distinguishing traits that allow them to be viewed as two separate, independent individuals.

SháMyra and SháMyree are total opposites intellectually. SháMyra is not a very good student. She absolutely hates school and does only enough work to get by. She does not study and refuses to apply herself. She has a bad habit of procrastinating when it comes to her school work. For example, one of her class assignments was a Black History report on anyone of her choice. The assignment was given on a Monday and was due the following Friday. SháMyra did not begin working on her report until Thursday evening. As a result of her not allowing herself enough time to prepare her material, she received a low grade on her report. SháMyree, on the other hand, is an exceptional student. She does more than what is expected from her by her teachers. She asks for extra assignments to keep her busy in her spare time. She takes her studies seriously. She prepares well in advance for each assignment and takes her time in completing her work. For instance, her class received the same Black History assignment as her sister's, and SháMyree began her research and drafting the same day the assignment was given. By the middle of the week she had edited and revised her final draft and typed her finished report. Her grades positively reflect her efforts.

SháMyra and SháMyree also possess very dissimiliar personalities. SháMyra is a free spirit; she is wild and crazy and thrives on adventure. One night at a football game, she was dared by some of her peers to go onto the field and moon the opposition. Needless to say, she took the dare. She is very talkative, a real chatterbox. Also, she is very-quick tempered and impatient. For example, the slightest thing, like a grocery store clerk's slowly checking out customers in the line she is in, will cause her to become irrational. On the other hand, SháMyree is extremely conservative. On the same occasion that SháMyra was dared to moon the opposition on the football field, SháMyree was given the same dare but would not even consider taking part in such an immature prank. SháMyree does not talk much; she is very shy. She is known as the level-headed and laid-back twin.

SháMyra and SháMyree's personal interests and goals further reflect their individual styles and tastes. SháMyra is very creative. She is a talented, self-taught artist. She can draw practically anything she has seen. SháMyra is also a very good athlete. She plays tennis in her leisure time, and she is on her school's basketball and track teams. She has great endurance. She can run miles without easily tiring and can play several consecutive games of tennis or basketball without breaking a sweat. Her future goals are to attend the Art Institute of Houston, obtain a degree in commercial art, and become a commercial artist for an advertising agency. On the other hand, SháMyree loves taking care of animals. Whenever possible, she volunteers to babysit her friends', neighbors', and relatives' pets when they are away from home. She has several pets of her own: two cats, a dog, four hamsters, and a ten-gallon aquarium of fish. She also loves to read. She makes it a habit to read daily, whether it's a newspaper, a magazine, or a book. She especially loves to read novels; she is even a member of a mail-order book club. She plans to attend Texas Southern University and major in veterinary medicine with a minor in business administration. Her future goal is to own a veterinary clinic.

SháMyra and SháMyree have as many differences as they have similarities. But they do not compete with each other and are like built-in best friends. Sometimes they communicate with one another by an unspoken means, telepathy. Identical twins, SháMyra and SháMyree are a remarkable creation. On the outside they are a perfect mirror image, but, on the inside, they are as different as night and day.

--Renecia Y. Kirby