Lafayette, La. (Daily Advertiser)- Morgan Mercado and Taylor Wallace have a lot in common. They share the same DNA and the same profession. They teach at the same school.

The identical twins even share an Instagram handle that has amassed more than 2,900 followers as they’ve leaned in on their common traits and built a presence on social media as the “Double Duty Teachers.” Through Instagram and Facebook, they share their passion for teaching with thousands of followers, posting tips, project ideas and classroom experiences.

But there was a time when the Meaux twins from Lafayette tried to create more differences in their lives.

Identical twins who were born a minute apart, they often got lumped together, like being called “the twins” rather than by their individual names or getting mistaken for the other one.

“I dyed my hair red in high school just to be different so people could tell us apart,” Taylor said. 

So when they graduated from Lafayette High and set their sights on the same college (the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), they at least started with different majors.

Taylor already was locked into teaching. She realized she wanted to be a teacher as a young leader in vacation Bible school, so she chose to study education.

“I could see the impact I had on the kids and see them learning,” Taylor said. “I thought, ‘I think I can do this.'”

Morgan started in journalism.

“I did not want to do the same thing as her, but I still wanted to make an impact,” Morgan said.

But by the time they graduated in 2015, she’d changed her mind and her major, first to high school education (since Taylor was doing elementary) and finally to exactly the same as her sister.

Now 26, they’ve embraced the closeness, working in the same place and living so close to one another that they share a gate. 

“It’s inevitable,” Taylor said.

They are in their fourth year of teaching elementary school, their second teaching together at Woodvale Elementary.

“We came to school here, we had amazing gifted teachers at Woodvale, so teaching gifted here together was just the dream,” Morgan said. “When I got my job, it was like a dream come true.

For the full article on the Lafayette twins and their shared experience in teaching, visit the Daily Advertiser.