Nine minutes.

That’s the age difference between juniors Alexis and Dante Schwartz. Alexis is older by a mere nine minutes.

The two live somewhat normal lives, except for the fact that they are twins.

The cool thing about twins is, although they look alike, they always possess different qualities.

For Dante and Alexis, there are differences in the way they live their lives.

Dante plays tennis, works at McDonald’s, and stages the lights in the auditorium.

Alexis swims, runs track, and helps coach middle school swimming.

The two are well known in the Junior Class. Alexis is Student Council president, and Dante is vice president.

For college, Alexis and Dante might be going their separate ways.

Alexis said she wants to become either a general physician or a pharmacist after high school.

Dante wants to work for a law firm as a lawyer or for the state as an investigator.

Alexis sees herself moving to Tennessee or somewhere warm, although she has been considering going to college at Michigan State University or Oakland University.

Dante wants to go to Ferris State University in Big Rapids.

Dante said the idea of the two going their separate ways is strange.

“I think moving separately would be easy at first,” Dante said. “But after a week or so I think it would be weird. We’d eventually miss seeing each other every day.”

Dante and Alexis both have a nice aura about them that draws people in.

When going about making new friends, the two have different approaches.

“I try to be as nice to people as I can be, and if I get a friend out of it, that’s a bonus,” Alexis said.

Dante’s way of making friends is just to start a conversation with someone he’s never talked to before.

One of Alexis’ best friends, junior Elisa Ascencio, had a lot to say about Alexis.

“I met her in class in second grade,” Ascencio said. “She’s pretty funny. I like her attitude and her personality. I would say she’s my best friend.”

Alexis said she enjoys hanging out with friends.

Aubrey Scott, junior, met Alexis through the swim team. Scott said she likes how Alexis and Dante are twins.

“It’s a cool thing to think about because they’re like the exact same age,” Scott said.

Ascencio then said one can forget that Alexis and Dante are twins. Scott agreed.

“Probably because we’re used to it,” Scott said. “Some people don’t even know they’re twins.”

Both Ascencio and Scott said that, although they are twins, Alexis and Dante have two completely different personalities.

For one, when it comes to decision making, the two had different things to say.

Dante sticks to his instincts and stops himself from overthinking.

“(When making decisions,) I usually go with whatever my gut tells me so I don’t overthink anything,” Dante said.

On the other hand, Alexis tends to think about the situation.

“To make decisions, I typically weigh the pros and cons of the situation and make my decision based off of that,” Alexis said.

One thing about twins that people do not commonly think about is how their parents have to accommodate for two children.

“It costs a lot more,” Dante said. “Parents will literally pay double for everything.”

The parents of twins have to be committed to making the lives of their children the best they can be.

Another misconception is the idea of twin telepathy.

“Something people don’t know about being a twin is that no matter how many times you ask us, we don’t have our own language, we can’t read each other’s mind, and we don’t have some type of twin telepathy,” Alexis said. “When we were little, we tried to make our own language, but it just doesn’t work like that.”

Alexis then said there are times when the two say the same thing, or when they can understand what the other is thinking through one look, though.

Like Alexis, Dante enjoys hanging out with friends.

Dante met junior Steven Alvarado in sixth grade and they have been friends ever since.

“It (our friendship) was just one of those kinda things that fell into place and seemed to fit well in my life,” Alvarado said. “He’s a super funny guy, super super cool, and interesting to talk to. I’m super glad to have him in my life and to have been able to call him my friend throughout all of these years.”

Another one of Dante’s best friends, junior Bailey Ashcraft, expressed his wish for a twin.

“I think it’s awesome,” Ashcraft said. “I wish I had a twin. That would be cool.”

An interesting thing Ashcraft talked about was how Alexis and Dante played football together.

According to Alexis, they played for six years.

“When I was younger, I was a tomboy and hung out with all of Dante’s friends,” Alexis said. “They were like my brothers, so when Dante signed up for football, I did too.”

Football was definitely something that kept the two close.

Alexis and Dante share a favorite teacher: Mr. Rob Markwardt.

They both had his AP World History class and Dante recently took Markwardt’s criminology class.

Dante likes Markwardt because he takes his classes seriously and has a funny sense of humor. Alexis likes him because he is straightforward and easy to get along with.

Markwardt thinks the twins are “awesome.”

“They are two of my favorite students and people,” Markwardt said. “They both have excellent work habits and outstanding personalities.”

He thought it was cool having twins in the class but said Alexis and Dante have their differences.

“The fact that they were twins did not really have any impact on the course,” Markwardt said. “They are both unique individuals with so much to contribute. I think very highly of them.”

Mrs. Amy Graham teaches health and math.

Graham, one of Alexis’ favorite teachers, also thinks highly of the two.

“When I think of Dante and Alexis, I just smile,” Graham said. “They are truly quality individuals both in the classroom and out. They are kind, respectful, compassionate, driven, and just all-around wonderful individuals.”

Being twins is a thing Alexis and Dante are used to.

“Twins don’t think that it’s cool to be twins,” Dante said. “We find it annoying, or we don’t even notice at all because we don’t know any different. It’s weird when you think about it.”

However, Alexis said the closeness is definitely a thing she appreciates.

“My favorite thing about being a twin is that no matter how much we fight or disagree, he always has my back,” Alexis said. “We argue with each other. But if anything happens to us individually, we’re always there for each other.”