Around Bates College, Jonathan and Christopher Pelz are known as the “bow tie twins.”
For four years, the identical brothers have shared a college, a dorm room and a dapper, suit-up style. They don’t agree on everything, but they agree on at least one thing: It’s been great going to college as brothers.
Name: Jonathan Pelz and Christopher Pelz
Age: 22
Hometown: New York City
Majors:
Jonathan: Economics, Japanese, Asian studies
Christopher: Neuroscience
Career plans:
J: Data analyst, management in Japanese company
C: Neuroscience research, environmental policy, neurologist (although fleeting dream)
How’d you both decide on Bates?
J: Working at Robin Hood Camp in Maine got me used to being in Maine, and I wanted a small liberal arts college. The students and professors are also very friendly.
C: Wanted a small liberal arts college. Interested in multiple subjects: Japanese, French, science, environmental studies and economics.
What’s it like going to the same college as your brother?
J: I love it. I always have a friend to turn to.
C: I love it. I have a friend all the time with me, even if he can be annoying sometimes. At first, it was a bit of an identity crisis, but I resolved that when he went abroad junior year.
You both worked at the school mail room. Planned or surprise?
J: Surprise. We made good friends with Vinny, who was head of the package center at the time, and he hired both of us.
C: This was planned from the start. We both knew we wanted the same job. We did not have the same shift until senior year, which was probably in order to spread the wealth so that we both could train new employees. All of our friends think it is awesome that we have the same shift though. They say the atmosphere is much more fun when it’s the dynamic duo.
Do you share a dorm room?
C: Yes we do, and we have for all four years. Shows we have not gotten sick of each other . . . yet
Jonathan looked very dapper in his mail room photo on the recent front page of the SJ. How would you describe your styles?
J: My style is to dress to impress and to feel focused.
C: We have both always gone for the classy, dapper look. Our high school, The Browning School, is a small private all-boys school in New York City and the uniform is basically what we wear every day. The mentality of the school, which is now our own, is that you dress for success. You look good, you feel good! And who doesn’t love a person in a suit?!
Best thing about being a twin at Bates?
J: Everyone knows us as the “bow tie twins” and likes to be around us.
C: The best part about being a twin is having our professors guess as to which one we are. For some reason, our professors tend to have the most difficulty parsing out which one is which.
Most challenging thing?
J: It was hard at first going abroad to Japan without Chris, but we Skyped and got used it.
C: Most challenging thing for me was trying to find my own identity when Jon was gone. I was very successful, which I am very grateful for.
Any fun twin stories?
J: When my professors ask if I have a twin because they accidentally talked to Chris as if he were me.
C: One time, Jon was approached by my chemistry professor who thought he was me. Jon proceeded to talk to Professor Nelson as if he was one of my chemistry friends, saying things like, “How was your weekend, man?” and “Yeah bro, glad to hear it,” and then ending the conversation with a fist bump. I was mortified when my professor brought it up the next morning.
ltice@sunjournal.com
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