Sophomore Maddy Williams of Wall, one of four quadruplets, remembers her first day of freshman year vividly. She stood behind the camera and watched her three siblings take a picture without her. While they would all attend St. Rose High School together for the next four years, Williams would attend CHS alone.

Since the quadruplets had gone to school together for their entire lives, Williams knew coming to CHS would bring a big change. When faced with the difficult decision to go separate ways, however, she said she received a lot of support from her siblings.

“When I first found out I got into CHS, my siblings were excited for me, but thought it would be weird for me to go to a different school than them,” Williams said.

Unlike Williams, freshmen Jacob and Matthew Bazer, identical twins from Ocean, agreed not to split up when it came time to choose a high school. The two said that while attending the same school provides a built-in friend, it can also take away from their individual high school experiences.

“You always have a friend to talk to and do projects with, but it’s also annoying sometimes because everyone mixes you up,” Jacob said.

Sophomore Meagan Ellis of Freehold made a different decision when she chose to accept her spot at CHS without her twin brother. Ellis said that although her life has always been influenced by her brother, attending a different high school was not too much of a change.

“In elementary school and middle school, we already had separate classes so it’s kind of like that, and we see each other at the end of the day so it’s not really like anything changed,” Ellis said.

Sophomore Catie Procyk of Colts Neck agreed that it was natural to separate from her twin brother, who attends Christian Brothers Academy. Procyk said she was eager to leave behind the common misunderstandings that come with being a twin.

“People always ask if we’re telepathic,” Procyk said. “But sometimes we do weirdly get the same grades on tests.”

Although the redundant misconceptions may cause many twins to separate for high school, wanting independence is another major factor. Williams said that her decision to take a different path in high school has been rewarding.

“It was definitely really hard,” Williams said. “But I’m happy about it now because I’m kind of my own person.”