They share the same birthday, but for most of the twins graduating this year from Pilgrim High School that’s about all they have in common.

Five and a half pairs of twins graduated from Pilgrim Tuesday and most of them said they and their twin are nothing alike, but nevertheless they couldn’t have imagined high school without each other.

Evan and Michael Broccoli, both athletes, said their personalities are very different, Evan being more outgoing compared to the more reserved and shy Michael. Evan played football where Michael played basketball, but both shared the love of baseball. They served as captains for the Pilgrim’s team. The brotherly duo said they actually work as a team, Michael being a pitcher for Pilgrim while Evan was his catcher.

“We are definitely yin and yang,” Michael said.

The two brothers will be going into the sciences in the fall. Evan is off to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for biology and Michael to the University of Connecticut for physiology.

The Cavanagh twins, who are 2 of 13 children in their household, said that alone time for them is actually quiet time with one another.

“Oh, we have definitely gotten sick of each other at times. We know each other’s limits and, honestly, sometimes we push them,” Christina, the younger of the two twins, said.

Christina played field hockey and lacrosse and says she is more reserved than her sister Caroline, who not only ran cross country and track but also participated in the drama club, chorale and played clarinet.

The sisters, who have always shared a room, will be separating for the first time after graduation with Caroline studying baking and pastries at Johnson & Wales while Christina heads off on a year foreign language program through the University of Navarra in Spain.

“I am a little nervous because we are used to our habits together, how we get up and go to bed,” Caroline said,

Christina joked that without her there Caroline will never wake up on time for anything.

Although her twin graduated a year before her, Ashlee Rapoza, is happy she took the extra year to finish up her studies. Ashlee actually started high school at Toll Gate, but after an illness went undiagnosed for over eight months, she was home schooled for two years.

With juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome, when Ashlee transferred to Pilgrim she was given the option of cramming all of her studies into one year or taking the extra year and finishing a year late. Her sister, Alexis, took option one, while Ashlee opted for the second year.

Ashlee, who is a straight A student, said, “I’m glad I took the time so I could make sure all my grades were good. I don’t think I would be going to college if I did everything in one year.”

She said last year she didn’t know what she wanted to do, but after her senior project, which tried to gauge how possible it was for someone with her conditions to have a career in dance, she has decided to go to Dean College to study dance.

Nicole Gauthier and her twin brother, Ryan, said that they didn’t have the normal “twin experience”; from elementary school all the way through high school they never had a class together and were involved in different extracurricular activities.

“It was more like always seeing a familiar face in the hallway,” Nicole, Pilgrim’s valedictorian, said.

While Ryan was on the bowling team, Nicole ran cross-country, track and swam for Pilgrim.

Nicole said Ryan has always been better with common sense and hands-on things. “He beats me in everything that isn’t in a book.” There isn’t much of a sibling rivalry because the two are on “very different paths.”

Ryan will be attending the Motoring Technical Training Institute to study electronics and Nicole will be attending Roger Williams University for International Business.

According to Pilgrim Principal Marie Cote, a twin herself, the Saran twins are more alike than any other, especially for a pair of fraternal twins of different genders. Similarly, the two twins are very close

Lillian and David are involved in many of the same classes and even participated in a few of the same clubs together like the executive board and track. Both will be staying in the state for school. David will be at the University of Rhode Island studying accounting and Lillian will be at Salve Regina for nursing.

David said he already has an EZ Pass for the bridge to visit his sister at school, and Lillian was assured they would see each other at least once a week.

As close as they are, that doesn’t mean they didn’t butt heads occasionally. David started laughing when he explained that on the executive board Lillian was the vote to break a tie and she didn’t vote like him.

“We forget we’re twins sometimes. It’s just having someone who is always there for you for everything,” David said.

“It would be weird if he wasn’t here,” Lillian said.

Mishi and Missesu Garcia are “best friends” but “complete opposites.”

“Opposites really do attract,” Mishi said.

Where Mishi is outgoing Missesu is shy, but both are “deeply dedicated” to their native culture; they are Native American and Dominican

Mishi is a powwow dancer and Missesu plays softball and was a part of the drama club. Both sisters can speak the native Algonquin language.

Both sisters will attend the Community College of Rhode Island, Missesu preparing for a career teaching history and Mishi for a career in law enforcement and criminal justice.

Missesu said, “It’s really exciting to be graduating together. It’s this big accomplishment and we did it together.

Cote said that as a principal she could relate to the experiences of these students because she had similar experiences with her own twin, Marilyn Massey.

“We definitely had the twin thing,” Cote said, “we know immediately what the other is feeling and what they need.”

If she had to compare, Cote thinks she and her sister are most like the Cavanaghs. Although they did some things together, they both had their own paths coming out of high school. However, after only a year apart, Massey ended up joining Cote at Bryant University, graduating only a year after her sister.

The two are still extremely close supporting each other their whole lives even when they are far apart.

She said it would be interesting to track the twins and see where they end up and whether that’s together or apart.

She said, “No matter what, you always have your twin.”