I have gotten to know Luke Weber, center midfield on the Skidmore’s men’s soccer team, quite well over the last few months. We bonded over cleaning tables in the Dining Hall when we realized his grandmother owns a house on the New Hampshire lake — an image of which I have tattooed on my side. Luke’s smile and laugh never fail to make even the most stressful days and boring work shifts feel like fun. What I didn’t know until a few weeks ago, however, was that he has a twin who also goes to Skidmore. And is a forward on the men’s soccer team. In comes Finn Weber. I’d seen him all around campus, seemingly always wearing a backward baseball cap, always with a determined look on his face.
All the twins I’m familiar with are known as such. You have the Sprouse Twins, the Olsen Twins, the Mowry Twins — you get the point. Even the twins I’ve known personally (the non-famous ones) were always paired together. Yet Finn and Luke have been able to escape that stereotype here at Skidmore. Many people don't know the boys are twins if they even know they’re siblings at all. Ever since I discovered their relation, I’ve wanted to better understand how these twins ended up playing on the same team at the same college while keeping their individuality.
Right off the bat, Finn and Luke’s answers to my questions made me realize how little I knew about them. They lived in Portland, Maine until kindergarten, according to Luke, but first grade according to an adamant Finn. They then moved to Mombasa, Kenya because their mother got a job teaching at an international school. For high school, they went to Proctor Academy, in Andover, New Hampshire. Come senior year, Luke felt indifferent to the colleges he applied to while Finn, very candidly, shared that he got rejected from those he applied to. Before graduating, they decided to go to Pomfret, a prep school, as a post-graduate year for soccer.*
The Weber twins did not fail to impress me with their extensive athletic record. Finn played soccer, hockey, and baseball while Luke played soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and tennis. This was less shocking once I found out that they come from a very athletic family. Finn thought about pursuing both baseball and soccer at a collegiate level but, “in the end [he] was just better at soccer.” For Luke, he thought about playing lacrosse but eventually decided against it.
When it came to choosing Skidmore, Luke decided to commit first. Finn, on the other hand, had been committed to Colby College but decided last minute that Skidmore was also the place for him. Going to college together had never been the plan for these two. By the end of their senior year, they both needed space from each other and decided they “should probably go to different colleges.” Much like Finn and Luke, their family and friends were also quite shocked by the outcome of the commitment process. Everyone, including the twins themselves, are happy with their decision to attend Skidmore together.
The Webers knew they had made the right decision coming to Skidmore when they met their team during pre-season. Like any college freshmen, they were worried about hazing, but luckily arrived to meet the “nicest team [they’ve] ever been on.” Luke made it abundantly clear that he could never emphasize enough how much he loves the team.
(Photos taken from Skidmore Athletics website. Finn is on the left, Luke on the right.)
Luke and Finn were quite happy with their first college season. Initially, they both were pretty sure they would be sitting on the bench, but due to some injuries on the team, Luke ended up playing and due to a good pre-season, Finn also got to play. Playing together now feels different than it did in high school, that is for sure, but they disagree on why. For four minutes, Finn and Luke went back and forth about the shift in their relationship. Finn believes that in all respects they have gotten more competitive, but Luke believes it to be the opposite.
As much as Luke wants to claim that he does not have a specific friend group and that it depends on the time of day, Finn insists that they are in the same one. While they do acknowledge that they are lucky to have a reliable friend in each other, they are aware that there are some hard parts about attending college with your twin. Finn believes there is definitely a struggle in forming your own identity with someone who’s known you your whole life constantly around.
Finn is a member of the Thoroughbred Society, an honor for athletes with a 3.65 GPA or higher. He says that learning to balance his rigorous academics, practice, and games has led him to become better at time management. Luke, unlike his brother, is very involved in clubs at Skidmore. He is a member of the Compost Club, Environmental Action Club, Alpine Ski Club, and due to my encouragement, has begun to explore Skidmore News.
Although they are still a year away from needing to declare, Finn is planning to double major in Business and Environmental Studies and Luke is planning to double major in Environmental Science and English. They both admit, however, that they have no idea how hard it is to double major so that the plan will probably change.
Since we first met, Luke has been on my list of the most interesting people I’ve met so far at Skidmore and I’m happy to say Finn lived up to my expectations and has now joined his brother on that list. It’s often easy to expect twins to be the same in all respects, like playing the same sport at the same college. That being said, Luke is goofy and charming while Finn is incredibly thoughtful and eager.
To finish off the interview, I asked Finn and Luke a series of rapid-fire questions.
M: Favorite color?
F: Green.
L: Rainbow yellow.
M: Your idol?
F: My dad.
L: Travis Scott
M: Dream job?
L: Travel-nature-writer. I wanna work for National Geographic for a few years and then start my own magazine but like, literally just my thoughts only.
F: A famous painter that travels around the world and paints really cool scenes and gets paid a good amount as well.
M: Favorite childhood memory?
F: Playing baseball with my dad. And then it's like the evening when it's really warm and the lights are coming down. And it smells good and mom's cooking dinner at home. Probably chicken pot pie. My mom loves to cook.
L: During snack time in fourth grade. I would always read my book in the corner. I could hear the noise of the little kids chattering and I would just read my book.
F: Don’t lie, it was because it was snack time and you had food.
*There were many quotes that did not fit into the piece naturally but highlight the unique and distinct relationship between Luke and Finn. Please find some of these moments below.