By Stephanie Rubio

Staff Writer

  Coming all the way from Guadalajara, Mexico, seniors Oscar Rosales and Omar Rosales are now calling Gabrielino High School their new home.   

  One of their most difficult obstacles is their language barrier. Both twins only speak Spanish and are working hard to learn english. Learning a second language is a challenge alone, but even more so when you have to develop a new life as well.

   “At the beginning it was a bit uncomfortable, because we don’t speak English,” Oscar stated. “[I want to] make sure that I am understood.” (All quotes were translated from Spanish)

  Although the Rosales Twins were born here, they lived the majority of their lives in Mexico. Their parents sent them to the United States in order to give them more opportunities and a better education.

  However, moving meant that they had to leave behind the people they love most, their parents and two sisters. Now, the Rosales twins live with their aunt here in San Gabriel as they work hard to achieve their goals.

    Both brothers are identical and they were separated by only one minute, making Omar the youngest. It can be very hard to tell them apart, so much so that their own parents have gotten them confused multiple times.

  Now that Oscar’s hair is longer than Omar’s, differentiating between the two is a breeze. Regardless of their physical appearances, they are drastically different in every other aspect of their lives.

  Omar is much more reserved and lets Oscar take the lead in most situations. In Omar’s free time, he likes to play video games while Oscar enjoys cooking. Even though, they are facing an entirely new world without their family, they are learning to rely on one another.

  “Before we came here we hated each other to death,” Oscar explained. “But now we have gotten much closer and we get along.”

  In Mexico the Rosales twins lived on the street with four other pairs of twins which made their childhood drastically different from the average person.

  Oscar said, “In Mexico, you mature much faster. We bagan to work at age nine and since then we have learned to see life in a completely different way.”

  The brothers explain that their motivation comes from wanting to make their family proud.