Nine minutes apart, unbreakable at heart

By Cassidy Liu

Sports Editor

Imagine what it is like to have someone always stuck to one’s side. Whether it is at school or at home, one can not ever get rid of this person. For most people, this scenario would be torture; however, for juniors Ashley Tanaka and Nicole Tanaka, they could not be more elated to be each other’s best friends.

  With Ashley being a mere nine minutes older than Nicole, they have practically been inseparable growing up together. As a result, the Tanaka sisters are extremely fond with persistently having their other half alongside with them.

  “When they’re together they always know how to include someone in a conversation,” junior Elizabeth Lau exclaimed. “They build off of each other’s jokes and in general complement each other really well.”

  Contrary to popular belief, Ashley and Nicole may enjoy each other’s company, but they actually have quite different aspirations and passions.

  Ashley plans on pursuing a more academic career in the future, possibly going into the STEM field. While Nicole is more interested in a more artistic field such as film. Their extracurriculars are also extremely distinct: Ashley participated on the Cross Country team in her freshman and sophomore year while Nicole is currently enrolled in a film class at Pasadena City College.

  “The biggest challenge would be trying to separate our identities because people always assume if one person does something the other twin will do it also,” expressed Nicole. “It’s really hard for people to understand that we’re different people.”

  Unlike most siblings, the Tanakas hardly ever quarrel, and are especially open to divvying anything they own. For instance, they are both extremely open to exchanging clothes whenever they need to spice up their wardrobe. Additionally, they have a similar taste in music and introduce many songs to one another along with listening to some of the same playlists.

  “We can relate with a lot of the same thing since we go through a lot of the same things,” Ashley chuckled. “We both stress out together about school and practice together for tests.”

 The unbreakable bond between the sisters is only possible due to their devotion to maintain their strong relationship despite not necessarily hanging out with each other during the school day. Since sophomore year, they have been branching out on their separate ways;  however, at the end of the day they always have each other to lean on.

  “They have such different personalities that it is always a different dynamic with both of them around,” junior Rumaisa Islam explained enthusiastically.