They saw double on Friday at Hopkinton High School, where almost one-sixth of the graduating class this year is a twin.

The school has five sets of twins amid the 67 graduates. Everybody there is used to this, since they’ve all been in the town’s school system since fourth grade and a couple of sets have been here since kindergarten, and nobody mentioned it in speeches during Friday’s hour-long graduation ceremony.

The student duplication is less noticeable than you might think because three sets are fraternal twins, with one boy and one girl – “When we moved here, people didn’t know we were twins for a year” said Audrey Davies of her and brother Gavin – while the two sets of identical twins aren’t so identical as to confuse people. (Fraternal twins result from two separate eggs getting fertilized at the same time; identical twins result when a single fertilized egg divides into two.)

Still, their presence in town has become a bit of a running joke to those in the know. “People ask, is there something in the water?” said Trish Walton, English teacher.

As for the twins themselves, they encounter some myths: “People assume that if you’re twins, you have telepathy,” Audrey Davies said. But mostly they seem to take their status in stride, hanging out together not because of some secret connection but because they share the same classes and friends.

“It’s just like having a sibling,” said Ben Taylor of his sister, Beth.

“We don’t carry cards. We don’t have a secret club,” said Taner Kaynak, perhaps with a hint of regret. His sister, Aliya, agreed.

Other twins are Abigail and Sierra Stone, and Evan and Ned Chapman.

Friday’s graduation was in the Durgin Pulling Arena alongside the school, known to most people for the ox-pulling contests it hosts when the Hopkinton Fair is in session. Part of rehearsal this week involved the senior class sweeping off the long wooden benches so guests’ clothes wouldn’t get dusty as they listened to the school chorus sing and heard several short, uplifting speeches.

Salutatorian Ruby Doolan talked of the changes the class has seen over the years, going from riding the bus to driving themselves, and from watching others graduate to sitting on the stage themselves. She compared the path that students have taken to the orbit of the moon, which is slowly retreating from Earth even as it is held by force of gravity. “This would not be possible without a delicate balance,” she said.

Commencement speaker Rob Rothe noted that almost one-third of the graduating class had been on at least one of the three teams that he coaches – track and field, cross-country and Nordic skiing – and drew some lessons from that experience. 

“Whatever sport you play is like life. You get out of it what you bring,” he said. “You show up, every day, you put the effort into it, and you see the result.”

“You choose your path, but stay open. Sometimes the path chooses you,” Rothe said. He talked of spending two years in Africa via the Peace Corps when he wasn’t sure what to do, and then talked of becoming a coach for the first time at age 45. “The excitement lies in the unknown. … Challenges are exciting but they can also be unnerving. Just keep challenging yourself.”

One of the more unusual moments came from Superintendent of Schools Michael Flynn, who noted that he has been part of at least 30 graduations over the years and dreaded the thought of being predictable.

“I can guarantee that nobody woke up this morning and said, ‘I can’t wait to hear what the superintendent has to say,’ ” he said.

His search to find a new angle to a graduating speech took him to that most cutting-edge of technologies – artificial intelligence.

“I went to ChaGPT and said, write a non-cliched graduation speech from a superintendent,” he said. Alas, that didn’t work: it suggested he talk about the road less traveled.

But sometimes, he said, obvious statements contain a hard truth.  One he has taken to heart over the years, he said, is “do the right thing.”

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