Walking through the quad, you’d never be able to tell a pair of identical twins apart. Here at Hart, that is a constant problem. Whether they’re together or apart, they are always somehow mistaken for one another. In the eyes of one specific set of twins, this has been an ongoing nightmare. Victoria and Valerie Olea Zazueta, current juniors at Hart High School, live through a continuous loop of mistaken identities. Throughout their years at Hart, staff members and friends continually hold fallacious beliefs on which twin is which. 

“My sister and I are usually asked if we are wanting to change periods or teachers, but I always respond with, ‘Oh no, that’s my sister that you have in that class.’ My relatives can’t tell us apart and still get confused, like my brother-in-law. He knows our names, but can’t tell us apart,” Valerie Olea Zazueta said. 

That’s only scratching the surface of the Zazueta household issues. During summer break, Valerie decided to get a unique haircut, which is now an accessible advantage to tell both twins apart.

“There was this one time in middle school when I heard someone call out for Valerie, so I looked around but couldn’t tell who it was that was calling out her name, especially ‘cause they didn’t say it again. Then I ended up telling Valerie about it, and it turns out that the person calling out her name was in one of her classes. So she ended up going up to Valerie and told her that she saw her. Valerie then proceeded to say that she most likely mistaken me as her.” Victoria Olea Zazueta said.  

She went on to express more of her experiences between her sister and herself. They’ve also both admitted to using the “mix ups” to their own advantages, but in the best humorous way possible. As they continue through their junior year, they both hope to grow as individuals and not accidentally as each other.