My College Aplication Essay

My twin brother is a legend. By the age of two, Dane successfully closed my dad in the attic, locked my mom in the basement and trapped the cat in the dryer; all in the same day; and accomplishment of advanced maneuvers and tactical brilliance. There was I, little Codey, attempting to build a life-size penguin out of Duplos, and solve a minor family crisis at the same time. I never did finish that penguin.

When Dane was little, he was the type of kid that people worried would construct a spaceship in his room, and be gone the next day. I am quite fortunate that he did not. Since the beginning, (we go way back), Dane’s existence has helped me define my individuality and develop a distinctive identity. I once convinced my brother that our next door neighbor owned Wal-Mart.

At the age of three, my brother had a dream. He wanted to be a fireman. One morning, we quietly slipped on our purple rain boots and fought the raging inferno, which only we could see, with our kitchen sink sprayer. After two consecutive fires, my parents disconnected the water and we were forced to battle the fires with imagination.

Those were the days when we would wear the same shirts, the same shoes, the same corduroys in the same colors. We would go to the same places and make the same friends. We rocked the same bowl shaped haircut and brought in the same hamster for show and tell. We would battle the same monsters, lock ourselves in the same dungeons and sail the same pirate ship (we were both first mate).

Over the years, things changed. Now we wear different clothes and have different friends. We make our own decisions; he makes a list, and I flip a coin. I eat vanilla ice cream, but he prefers chocolate. Anything I can do, he can do better: anything he can do, I can do better. I still cannot tie a tie. Dane has perfected his bow-tying skills. Now we have different haircuts, different goals, different sleeping patterns and different study habits. When driving, Dane and I will take completely different routes, but end up in the same place. My twin brother propelled me to explore my own interests, and taught me that it is not always the best thing to follow him or anyone else for that matter.