Identical Twins Earn High Academic Achievements

When Erich Kerekes struggled while translating Virgil's Aeneid from Latin to English, he stuck his head in the room of his identical twin brother Danny to ask for help. When Danny stalled on an advanced placement chemistry practice problem, he simply pounded on the wall and asked Erich for a clue.

Eighteen years of reciprocal tutoring has paid off for the Barrington brothers. The Kerekes twins graduated in the top 1 percent of their Barrington High School class this year. Their sterling high school vitaes include such titles as National Merit Scholars, National Honor Society members, student council officers, Latin Club members and community leaders. But not all their spare time was spent in the library or doing good work. Erich and Danny also played on the varsity lacrosse team, started their own Ultimate Frisbee team and basically had fun hanging with their many friends.

The boys head to Notre Dame this year, each a beneficiary of the coveted Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars program. Of 700 applicants, 26 students were selected based on their excellence in academic accomplishment, moral character, leadership, and commitment to service. The twins will receive $25,000 each per year toward the cost of attending Notre Dame.

As part of the scholarship, Erich and Danny will attend separate 22-day Outward Bound programs this summer. It will be the first time in their lives in which they will not have spoken to each other for more than a day. Included in this scholarship are service projects and international global research projects for their next two summers – also to be completed independently.

"Outward Bound will be a great experience, but it will be different without Erich," Danny said. "I've always depended on my brother's help and encouragement."

Chatting comfortably in their family's sun-bathed living room, the boys tend to finish each others’ sentences. Square-shouldered and lanky (Erich stands 6 feet 1 inch, Danny is 6 feet), they are surprisingly easy to tell apart. Erich wears his hair a bit longer and Danny's eyes are more piercing. But their similarities in disposition are remarkable. Polite and engaging, they even share a minor speech impediment, which comes across as a sophisticated European lilt.

When asked to compare their talents, the boys easily know where they stand.

"Danny is actually a little bit smarter. He had a slightly higher GPA and one point higher than me on the ACT. He got a 35," Erich said. (A perfect score is 36.) "But I'm better at pingpong, foosball, video games and poker," he jokingly adds.

Nearly straight-A students throughout high school, the brothers found the academic side of school challenging, but never overwhelming.

"I'd remember that I had an AP calculus test the next day, and I'd just say to myself, I'm going to be up late tonight," Danny said.

Both agree, despite their stellar academic records, it's not the classes they will remember most from high school.

"It's really the involvement in school activities that defines high school for me," Danny explained.

For all their extracurricular activities, they agree that the Brother's Keeper program stands out as one experience that profoundly shaped their world view. The program invites students to participate in a cultural immersion with Dakota people and their children on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The goal is to promote cultural understanding and eliminate stereotypes

The boys, along with 30 other BHS students and program founder Ray Piagentini, spent one week each summer helping out one of the poorest communities in the country, while learning about the Dakota culture. Between upgrading a camper for use as a day care facility to rounding up Dakota kids for trips to Walmart for clothing and other necessities, the student group helped enrich the lives of children on the reservation. But for the Kerekes brothers, it was their own personal growth that made the experience so meaningful.

"I learned a lot about patience and respect for different cultures," Danny said, noting the tribe's innate conservation practices. "If they take something from the earth, they immediately give it back."

So taken with this ancient, sacred people, the Kerekes brothers have developed a specific Dakota curriculum to assist newcomers on the trip.

"Erich and Danny are tremendous ambassadors for our school, their family and our club," Piagentini said. "They are perfect examples of the servant leadership model for all."

The twins understand firsthand the importance of building a fertile environment where young people can thrive. Their parents, Diane, an accountant and Matt, an equities trader, have encouraged the boys to reach their full potential, but with a nurturing hands-off parenting style. They also have a daughter, Julie, who is studying elementary education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

"Erich and Danny have had a great work ethic since they were young," Diane said. "They have been completely self-motivated with their studying, their extracurriculars, their sports and their leadership activities. I think it’s their strong cooperation, rather than competition, that has enabled the boys to achieve at their best level – and to have great fun while doing so. But, what is most impressive to us as parents, is their love for life and their love for learning."

Recognizing their gift for language, Diane guided them toward Latin in middle school. Their choice of world language has proven to be an immense benefit for the boys.

"We really enjoyed translating the Aeneid. It's amazing to think ancient Romans shared the same feelings and experiences that we do today," Erich said. "And when you understand Latin, you do so much better in English classes because you understand word origin."

Posing such arcane questions as, "What is the appropriate answer to the question: Amasne patrem tuum?" the National Latin Exam tests 150,000 high school students annually on their knowledge of ancient Rome and the Latin language. Throughout high school, Danny took home four consecutive gold medals from the exam and Erich won two.

With jam-packed daily schedules, the boys still find time for fun. Tossing a Frisbee around with friends on their lunch break evolved into serious sport. In their junior year, they formed their own Ultimate Frisbee team and headed to the division tournament, even knocking out the No. 1 team in the seeding game.

"We were the only team without uniforms," laughs Erich. "We wore our Barrington lacrosse pinneys."

The boys attribute their high school success to the support and encouragement of each other, and to the many outstanding teachers they've encountered at BHS.

"I do not think we would be quite as involved or successful if we weren't identical twin brothers," Erich said. "We wouldn't have the same support or friendly competition."

As they head off to college, Erich will focus on business and Danny, chemical engineering. But as their lives veer in different directions, these young men with identical DNA will continue to count on each other for answers, both big and small.