August 2011, Issue 16
Visiting With...
UTSA Staff becomes a U.S. Citizen
Congratulations to Claudia Giliberti, from the University Career Center who received her long awaited U.S. Citizenship on August 4th, 2011. Claudia is originally from Bari, Italy and works as a career counselor with business students. Every semester, Claudia collaborates with another counselor and an immigration attorney to teach international students the process of conducting job searches in the United States.
Getting to Know...
Seeing Double in the Registrar’s Office
Submitted by Joe Decristoforo, AVP Registrar
I have a great staff in my office, but you know what, they are not only great they are also different in a key way – two of our staff members are twins! Now, I don’t know the statistics on this, but having an identical twin is not at all common, and, for a staff of 35 folks, well, having 2 sets of twins among us well, that’s just scary.
Sally Bench, Director Registrar and Records and sister
1. What is the name of your twin and who is older and by how many minutes?
My twin’s name is Susan but we all call her “Suse.” I am oldest by 13 minutes.
2. What was it like being a twin? Did you dress alike as children, play on the same sport teams?
It was fabulous being a twin. We were “Air Force brats”, so I also had someone to start the first day of school with. We started first grade in Washington DC, rode the city bus and even had to transfer. That was tough for 2 five year olds but we held hands and reminded each other not to forget our lunch boxes.
Our Mom dressed us alike as children and we wore uniforms to school, but when we got older we never dressed alike outside of school. People thought we were trying to be individuals but actually we were just doubling the size of our wardrobes.
3. Did you sometimes play tricks on your family or friends, pretending to be one another? Can you give any examples, if yes?
Right after high school I worked at a chili parlor in Cincinnati from 12 midnite to 7 in the morning. Often Suse would take my place at work; no one ever knew the difference. Our voices sound alike so I would be Suse when she made 2 dates for the same night and didn’t have the courage to call the other guy back to cancel. In ballet class, we did a duet together once called “Me and my shadow”. I wore a white leotard and Suse wore black and we did the same steps together. The audience always liked it and it sure beat going up on stage alone!
4. How close are you to your twin? Are you closer now that you are adults or did you feel closer when you were younger and did more things together growing up?
We have always been close –always. Nowadays it is harder to see each other since she lives in Washington State but there is a bond there that can never be broken. It’s ok for me to say something unkind about Suse, but you can’t.
5. I’ve often heard tales that somehow twins can communicate via some unknown force or method across great distances. For example, if one twin gets injured, somehow the other twin may feel pain or some uncanny awareness that something isn’t right somehow – even across continents. Did you experience anything like this and if so, can you describe it?
It is true. Once I had a feeling something was wrong and I kept calling and calling Suse, getting no answer. Finally I called one of my other sisters and Suse was in the emergency room. Often we do things alike even though we are miles apart. We both bought couches once in the same fabric, although different styles. Once we sent our Mom the same Mother’s Day card. I’ll call her and get her voice mail because she is calling me.
6. How alike or dissimilar are you to your twin? Who’s the smarter, the more handsome or prettier, as the case may be – from your perspective of course?
Suse is more glamorous than I am and spends an inordinate amount of time on her hair; she is also totally ditzy and gives meaning to the phrase “having a blonde moment”. I am way more practical and sensible and competent. She prefers to lay out at the pool and I am in the water doing laps. But we have very similar tastes in the books we read, the authors we like and we are both snobbish about not reading romance novels.
7. If you had a preference, do you think you would have preferred to not have a twin or do you think being a twin is one of the best experiences of your life? Why or why not?
Being a twin is wonderful! You always had someone your own age going through life’s experiences; you always had someone to talk to. You had two voices to wear down Mom and Pop with when it came time to negotiate curfew setting and dating and car rules. I know that I can always count on Suse for love and concern and friendly advice. We both have many faults, but our love for each other is unconditional.
Enrique Juarez, Sysytem Analyst III and brother
1. What is the name of your twin and who is older and by how many minutes?
His name is David and he is about 5 minutes older than me.
2. What was it like being a twin? Did you dress alike as children, play on the same sport teams?
It was interesting because I was never alone and had someone one to hang out with. We shared everything, but did not like to dress alike. The sport we played was Baseball.
3. Did you sometimes play tricks on your family or friends, pretending to be one another? Can you give any examples, if yes?
We could never play tricks on my family because our personalities are very different. You can tell which one is which when you start talking to us.
4. How close are you to your twin? Are you closer now that you are adults or did you feel closer when you were younger and did more things together growing up?
We were closer when we were younger. We would do everything together except attend class. We were not allowed to be in the same class because we would depend on each other to get stuff done. Now we live in different cities and try to visit each other about 3 times per year or more.
5. I’ve often heard tales that somehow twins can communicate via some unknown force or method across great distances. For example, if one twin gets injured, somehow the other twin may feel pain or some uncanny awareness that something isn’t right somehow – even across continents. Did you experience anything like this and if so, can you describe it?
Well we have not experienced anything like that.
6. How alike or dissimilar are you to your twin? Who’s the smarter, the more handsome or prettier, as the case may be – from your perspective of course?
Even though we are twins we are two very different people. He is more of an outgoing risk taker and I’m the one that would take it easy and plan things out. We would balance each other out.
7. If you had a preference, do you think you would have preferred to not have a twin or do you think being a twin is one of the best experiences of your life? Why or why not?
I thought been a twin was a great experience. I had someone, exactly the same age as me, to grow up with. We were competitive, always had each other’s back, and always picked each other up when we were down.