Gavin and Andrew see double success

Identical twin brothers Gavin and Andrew Trowles have enjoyed parallel lives. They attended the same schools and technical college, worked in the same part-time jobs, and today both will graduate from the University of Teesside with BSc (Hons) degrees in Computer Science and receive the British Computer Society (BCS) Prize for best dissertations.

And the similarities don’t end with today’s graduation ceremony at Middlesbrough Town Hall, for the twins are now working in the same room as Computer Programmers for Connexions card in Darlington. The workplace is a true family affair, as their mother Jennifer works down the corridor for the teacher’s pensions agency, Capita.

Gavin and Andrew, 23, are from Darlington and former pupils of Branksome Comprehensive and Darlington Technical College. Gavin is the oldest of the twins by two minutes and said: “We’ve always got on really well, apart from when we were in our early teens and sharing a room, then we used to annoy each other all the time. We both were interested in computers from the age of seven, thanks to our father Alan, who was really into computers at home.

“I was initially going to take a different route to Andrew, as I enjoyed Art & Design at school, but then computers gained my interest. At primary school we wore badges so the teachers could tell us apart, but the University’s lecturers didn’t have any problems! Although there was one occasion when I asked a question about Artificial Intelligence, and in the follow-up class the lecturer couldn’t remember which one of us had asked it.”

Andrew said: “We both worked in a DIY store part-time throughout the degree and the customers sometimes had difficulty telling us apart. Even our industrial year was on the same site at Wilton, I was at Huntsman and Gavin at Enron, so we still saw a lot of each other. We achieved the same marks in the course, and both got 2.1s, but we have different personalities and interests. I’d say Gavin is more generous than me!

“We don’t have any kind of mental bond, but one medical fact united us both. I had a double hernia when I was born, and the Doctor said it would happen to Gavin. It did-only when he was 19 and studying at Darlington Technical College. Oh, and Gavin passed his driving test first! It’s good that we’re working together, if we have any problems we can help each other out.”

Proud mother Jennifer said: “My husband and I think it’s great that Gavin and Andrew are graduating together and receiving prizes, it’s a really big achievement. When they first left school they signed up for a YTS, but then decided to enrol at Darlington College to study for a GNVQ in IT and A’ level Computing. They did that off their own bat, the interest snowballed and now they’ve got their jobs as well.”

---