At school, many of us pass by family members. Despite the stereotype that siblings are constantly having a sibling rivalry, there are plenty that tend to have a pretty positive and easygoing relationship when at school.

      Brother and sister Michael Smith ‘17 and Lauren Smith ‘20 get to be in the same school for the first and last time. While they get along well, they still tease and make fun of each other.

     For Lauren, getting pushed around playfully by her brother isn’t uncommon. She says, “There are times in the hallways when he shoves me in public and ruffs up my hair and I’m like, ‘Eh, I didn’t need that in the morning.’”

      Besides being pushed around, having a sibling in a different grade can allow for a deeper connection to the sibling’s grade. Michael gets to know Lauren’s ninth grade friends that he otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to know, and Lauren gets to know Michael’s senior friends.

Michael thinks that although he will “help her with her math homework, a lot of what high school is about is figuring it out for yourself.” He says, “I’ll help her with some stuff, but some stuff I’m not going to tell her what to do.”

      Along with siblings of different ages, twins at school have a unique relationship when in the halls. Serena Swanson ‘17 and Savannah Swanson ‘17 are senior twins and have been going to school together since day one. Serena and Savannah both agree that “It’s different than having siblings in a different grade ‘cause we have the same homework, same friends.”

     Serena says, “[Having Savannah at school] is almost like having your mom at school.” She says that comparing her sister to her mom may be kind of extreme because the two aren’t too alike. However, Serena feels having family at school is comforting, even if it feels like she’s walking the halls with her mom.

      The twin sisters have a good relationship at school, but it wasn’t always that way. “At Providence, we were not friends; we probably didn’t even say ‘hi’ to each other in the hallways.” They continue, “We really did not want to go to school together.”      

      The twins feel that in high school, academics are more difficult, so they’ve relied on each other more than before.

     While siblings and twins may have different relationships during high school, the two types of siblings both enjoy having each other at school, despite unavoidable complications that come with all family members.