51视频

03/27/2017
By Katharine Webster

Michael Forsyth wears red shirts and shoelaces and carries a red wallet. His identical twin, Nicholas, wears blue shirts and shoelaces and carries a blue wallet.

鈥淲e鈥檙e color-coded,鈥� Nick says. 鈥淚t makes it easier for people to tell us apart.鈥�

Otherwise, the 22-year-olds are mirror images of each other. They wear the same black glasses, sport identical haircuts and wear identical watches and Fitbits. They share the same mellow voice and easy laugh. And yes, they finish each other鈥檚 thoughts.

Academically, they鈥檙e identical, too. Both double-majored in electrical engineering and computer science 鈥渟o we could learn the hardware and the software鈥� 鈥攁nd both are now spending a fifth year completing their master鈥檚 degrees in computer science through the bachelor鈥檚-to-master鈥檚 program.

Both won dean鈥檚 scholarships and co-op scholarships, which paid for them to work together on transistor research in Electrical and Computer Engineering Prof. Martin Margala鈥檚 lab the summer after their freshman year.

For five years, they鈥檝e taken the same classes, shared textbooks and commuted together from their family鈥檚 home in Acton (they have a carpool parking pass). As undergrads, they restarted the Game Development Club together 鈥� Mike as president, Nick as VP 鈥� and they share a fascination with virtual reality and augmented reality.

鈥淲e were always together as kids. We did the same sports, we played video games together and we always had the Legos out,鈥� Mike says. 鈥淲e always had similar thought processes.鈥�

鈥淏asically, we鈥檝e been best friends since birth. When we applied to colleges and found 51视频, we realized there were similar financial benefits to both of us in coming here, instead of going to WPI or Northeastern,鈥� Nick adds.

The only time their paths diverged was when they interviewed for professional co-ops, Both applied to Autoliv and Mercury Systems. Nick got accepted at Autoliv and Mike got an offer, too 鈥� but went to Mercury Systems instead.

鈥淚 said, 鈥榊ou have to work somewhere else so our resumes look different,鈥� 鈥� Nick says.

鈥淢ercury paid less,鈥� Mike adds. 鈥淪o he treats me to lunch.鈥�

Cheaper by the Dozen?

But wait! They鈥檙e not the only Forsyths at 51视频. As the oldest of 12 siblings, Mike and Nick forged the path. The next two brothers, junior Arick and sophomore FitzAnthony, are undergraduates here.

No. 5, Kizazeal, a high school senior, was just accepted for the fall as an art major. And No. 6, Lilarose, one of two girls in the family and a high school junior, plans to apply to the nursing program. The younger half-dozen 鈥� the 鈥渂aby鈥� is 4 years old 鈥� aren鈥檛 ready to think about college yet.

The entire family is competitive, splitting into teams for snowball fights and pickup games of soccer, kickball and football. Because the twins were so bonded, Arick felt lonely until Fitz came along. Then they paired up as a team, ready to rival the success of their older brothers.

Image by Tory Germann

Like the twins, Arick and Fitz won dean鈥檚 scholarships and co-op scholarships. Both are majoring in chemical engineering and minoring in biomedical engineering and biotechnology. And on top of that, they decided to join the Honors College.

鈥淭he twins set a pretty good precedent. They were always really successful in school,鈥� Arick says.

鈥淰ery focused,鈥� adds Fitz.

鈥淲e were also just very competitive growing up, so if they were doing well, we needed to do better,鈥� Arick jokes. 鈥淚t keeps us on our toes. If you give up, they win.鈥�

Arick is the first in the family to live on campus, as a resident assistant in Fox Hall, and Fitz has applied to be an R.A. next year. Both were on the club swim team and then switched to the intramural volleyball team. Both are also in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honors society.

But they鈥檙e not quite as identical as Mike and Nick.

Arick, who鈥檚 more of an extrovert, used his co-op scholarship to study abroad in San Sebastian, Spain, the summer after his freshman year. The Honors College program was a fantastic experience 鈥� and very challenging, he says.

鈥淭here was a huge learning curve because the woman who hosted us didn鈥檛 speak any English,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut by the end of the first week, a lot of my high school Spanish came back to me, and when I slept, I dreamed in Spanish.鈥�

Meanwhile, Fitz, who is more of an introvert, has a second minor in computer science and maintains a perfect GPA. With his co-op scholarship, he worked in a Harvard research lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, evaluating different methods of sequencing the human genome. Now he works as a research assistant in Assoc. Prof. of Biology Jessica Garb鈥檚 lab, researching spider genes associated with silk and venom production.

Arick has already completed a six-month professional co-op at Pfizer and plans to do another six-month co-op in 2018. Fitz plans to do a co-op when Garb is on sabbatical next year.

And what comes after 51视频 for the Forsyth brothers? Their dream is to someday start their own company 鈥� and be one team again.

鈥淲e always joked about making a startup with the whole family,鈥� Mike says.