Tanner and Weston Halkyard swear it was sheer coincidence that they ended up at the same university. They both applied to a number of other colleges, and their parents never pushed them to be a part of the same program or school.

“We were actually separated into two different rooms when we were deciding on the schools that we were going to,” Weston said.

Tanner agreed and said, “It was really just random happenstance that we ended up picking the same one, and the same major.”

The program of choice was the School of Architecture’s five-year undergraduate program at Syracuse University. Now, after five years of enduring all-nighters, making dozens of models and fretting about reviews, twins Tanner and Weston will graduate this weekend with SU’s Class of 2013, then head off to different cities to begin new jobs and live apart from each other.

Tanner and Weston grew up in the small town of Montague in Western Massachusetts. As kids, they didn’t have access to cable or Internet, a factor that forced them to spend time together playing outside or being creative.

The two played a lot of sports and took up drawing in their free time. What started out of a necessity to entertain themselves became a habit — then a passion.

It was their mutual love for art that later influenced their college decisions.

“We originally didn’t know we wanted to do architecture, but we were really art-oriented in high school,” Tanner said. “That was kind of a start to becoming an architecture student. You can make stuff with your hands and draw, and that’s kind of what we like to do anyway.”

The two visited SU as a last-minute addition to their list of potential-colleges . They loved the campus and the architecture program, and both ended up choosing it as their top school.

Though the twins were surprised by their mutual choice, their father, Daniel Halkyard, wasn’t.

“The fact that they both chose that program is really not unusual,” he said. “They’ve done so many things together throughout growing up, it seems natural that they would do that.”

The Halkyard twins have never regretted their choice to attend the same college. In both their shared experiences and separate lives, the two have loved every minute at SU.

“I love Syracuse. I don’t know any other experience, but I can honestly say this has been the best five years of my life,” Weston said.

In the last five years at SU, Weston and Tanner have shared a handful of adventures.

Together they survived the first year of architecture. They spent sleepless nights in the studio, racing to finish projects. They traveled across Europe while abroad in Florence, Italy. On Halloween, they dressed as the Winklevoss twins from “The Social Network.”

And just a week ago, they completed their most important adventure yet: presenting their final theses to complete their undergraduate studies.

“It probably made it better to experience that all together,” Tanner said. “You’re not going through it alone. You know that if your twin can get through it, clearly you can get through it.”

And though all of that time together might drive some siblings crazy, Tanner and Weston used their similarities to fuel their competitive sides, which led them to be more productive and successful.

“Everything gets to be competitive,” Tanner said. “A lot of times, it’s fun because there’s this person that’s always pushing you to be better.”

Weston added, though, that they often competed to separate themselves.

“We grew up with this mental notion that we were this one thing or unit to everyone else,” Weston said.

But soon, the need to define themselves as separate individuals won’t be a factor. After graduation and 22 years of living side by side, the twins will be taking jobs in different cities and pursuing their dreams in separate places. Working as an architectural draftsman, Weston will head to Martha’s Vineyard in June. Tanner will begin a job as an architectural designer in Boston just a few days later.

While the two share an undeniably close past, the consensus among family and friends seems to be that they’ll be just as successful as individuals.

“I’ve seen different sets of twins in my life, and I think they’re very independent,” said younger brother Cade Halkyard, a sophomore art photography major at SU. “I don’t think they’ll be sad at all. They always find friends, and they’ll always be with each other in the end.”

Their father is just as confident.

“I think it’s a blessing; I think it’s unique, to be able to go through life with someone that close that you’ve grown up with and know intimately,” Daniel Halkyard said. “But really, they’ve developed into their own people at Syracuse. I think they’ve developed a lot more independence over the last five years.”

The twins aren’t worried about separating, either. Though their jobs are in different places, their past experiences have proven there’s no guarantee they won’t end up together again in the future.

“We definitely want to see what it’s like to not be together and to make our own mark,” Weston said. “We definitely talk about opening a firm. But who knows?”

Said Tanner: “We’re kind of open to anything at this point.”

Published on May 9, 2013 at 10:55 am

Contact Lara: lsorokan@syr.edu