Having a twin on campus can be an awesome experience. Having an identical twin can be even better.

Tim and Jim Jiracek, juniors in management information systems, know this for a fact.

While most freshmen are thrown into their first year alone and scared, Tim and Jim were able to navigate their new adventure together.

They didn’t have to worry about crazy roommates because they were each other’s roommates. They didn’t have to figure out who to go to sporting events with because they could go together. 

“It’s really good if you’re an incoming freshman, having someone to walk to class with or go get lunch with at Seasons or the MU,” Tim said. 

Ever since they were young, Tim and Jim have done almost everything together. As children, their mother dressed them in matching outfits, and, because they were the same age, they were able to go through each stage of childhood together. 

Tim and Jim went through school together, joined the same teams, had the same friends and worked the same jobs. This gave them the ability to swap classes during school or to play tricks on and confuse unsuspecting customers.

Tim said they will swap a class some days just to see what it is like and they won’t get caught.

Looking back at photos has always been fun for the twins.

“In like every photo up to third grade, it’s like seeing the same kid twice,” Jim said. 

While it may be hard for those who barely know Tim and Jim, family and close friends can easily tell them apart.

Jim said people who know them will say they have subtle differences of personality, although Jim and Tim don’t notice these differences.

They said they don’t think they would be as close had they been born years apart.

“We have the same jobs, so we really see each other 24/7,” Tim said. 

Tim and Jim said they love Halloween because they can get creative with costumes. They went as Thing 1 and Thing 2 during freshman year, and this year, they plan to go as Clark Kent and Superman. 

While being a twin is mostly full of perks, there were moments that the boys had to work through. Sharing a car during high school was one of the hardest things to deal with, but Tim said they’ve never experienced a time when they hated each other.

One thing every set of twins is sure to experience is a barrage of questions from every person who learns they have a twin or from those who see them together.

Because of the uniqueness of having two identical human beings, twins receive extra attention. Tim and Jim were even featured in a photo for the Des Moines Register doing the Hoiberg dance.