GRASS LAKE, Mich. (AP) — Four high school students in southeastern Michigan have more in common than graduating with the highest grade point averages in their class — they each also have a twin.
Two sets of twins graduated from Grass Lake High School on Sunday, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported.
Identical twins Kayla and Maria Bolton, 18, shared the honor of being valedictorians after earning the same 4.4 GPA. Fraternal twins Connor and Barrett Bagby, 17, held the next highest GPAs.
The sets of twins have known each other since elementary school, and they help each other in their studies.
"We hear a lot, 'You were only valedictorian because you had someone to just split all the work,' which is not true," Maria Bolton said during the twins' co-written graduation speech.
Kayla Bolton added that she often struggled with the same subjects as her sister.
"Then, we just ask Connor and Barrett," Maria Bolton said.
The Bagbys said it hasn't been difficult to be viewed as individuals after pursuing different paths. Connor earned honors with Model United Nations, while Barrett achieved 12 varsity letters.
"We're not so much twins as we are brothers that were born at the same time," Connor Bagby said.
Kelly Bagby, the boys' mother, acknowledged that twins can struggle with being compared to one another throughout their lives. But she said they also have a lifelong companion.
"One mom told me something (when I was pregnant) that I think about a lot," Kelly Bagby said. "Part of the thing about having twins is accepting they'll never need you more than they need each other."
The Bolton sisters and the Bagby brothers are all headed to the University of Michigan this fall.
The Boltons plan to study business to pursue their dream of starting a company together. Connor Bagby is joining the business administration program, while Barrett will study nursing.
