Kato Magnum and Ahsaan Magnum Senior Spotlight

What’s it like going to school with your twin? Is there competition?

Ahsaan: I like it. We take the same classes so we get to work together for some stuff, and we have the same friends which is pretty cool. I guess there is a little bit of competition just to do as good as you can but I feel like that comes with any friendship.

Kato: I mean I agree. It’s good to go to school with your brother, although I’m seeing him for way too long. 

Ahsaan: Uh huh, right.

Kato: I mean I think there is always going to be that natural competition to do better but we still are always just doing our best.

If you are going to different schools, are you excited to be separated for college?

Ahsaan: That’s a difficult question to answer. Of course, no part of me wants to say “Yeah, get away from me” but for the last 17 years, we’ve been pretty much by each other's sides. It’s almost guaranteed that we are going to different schools so it’s going to be different not seeing him every day. 

Kato: It’s just going to be so different. I mean every day I get to talk to him and he’s that person who I can connect with on a deeper level since we see eachother every day and share a lot of things with each other. I am also excited even though it’ll be different because you know, I don’t have to deal with him for a year, but we’ll still be back together for the holidays so it won’t be that bad.

Kato, what are you most excited for, given that you were recruited to Wesleyan for baseball?

I would say I am most excited to just play sports. I love them.  One of my friends who I used to play baseball with is also at Wesleyan so it’ll be fun to play with him again. It’s going to be a lot different now because I’ll be playing people who are 3-4 years older than me, so it’s going to feel a lot different. I’ll have to put a lot more work in like scheduling and time management to be able to balance everything. But it should be fun, I am definitely seeking a new challenge and getting to travel a lot more in the New England area should be a lot of fun.

4. Ahsaan, what are you most excited to do in college?

I’m just excited for a new atmosphere. For once, most of my decisions will be totally up to me, which will be pretty cool.

How have your school experiences differed throughout your time here at Masterman?

Kato: I guess with me, since I play more sports, I have practice everyday so it’s a lot different. For me, at one point I had practice every single day of the week so my school balance is a lot different than his. He still has other extracurriculars, but it’s really demanding at some points for me to get home at 9:30 every night after school and then baseball. It’s just been a lot different juggling the school workload. 

Ahsaan: I guess for me, my experience has been less constricted and rigid as his. I don’t have as much of a strict schedule after school which leaves room for some extracurriculars that I do like music. I have definitely enjoyed the music aspect of Masterman and being in the jazz band, but I’d say because I have less of an idea of what I want to do, my schedule as a result is less demanding.

Ahsaan, is music something you want to continue after high school?

I definitely want to continue playing music as much as I can. I don’t want to study music because I don’t think it’s really for me. I want to keep playing the drums and learning new instruments as much as I can. I’ve been trying to relearn piano and pick up the guitar, but it’s hard so if a college offers a free music class I would definitely consider taking that.

What is something that you have both taken from your highschool experience?

Kato: I mean for me it’s time management. I might have the worst time management in the game, so that’s something I really need to work on. College is a lot different since it’s your own schedule and you make all of your own choices. With sports on top of that, I really have to be on top of everything like when I’ll be able to practice and when I’ll be able to do school work, and then also prioritizing sleep. I think I’ll also take with me my work ethic. We go to a really rigorous school so I would take the foundations that I have set for my work here with me to college. I think it will be a little less stressful getting to schedule out those classes instead of having the same five classes every day.

Ahsaan: A lot of what I’ve learned more recently is that it is better to start things as soon as possible. Procrastination is something that I have always struggled with and it’s only gotten worse, and I’ve suffered consequences as a result of it. I definitely think that trying to maintain a schedule and getting everything done while also not sacrificing any free time is really important. I think it’s going to be difficult at first to keep a good balance between work and leisure, but I feel like I was able to do that pretty well here at Masterman in a quite intense environment so I feel like I can carry that with me to college.

What is your favorite memory with your twin?

Ahsaan: I mean everyday is a memory with this guy, but one of my earliest memories, maybe not my best, was in our old house that had these dark brown wood stairs. Our dad used to read us this book called something like Mr Brown Strikes Lightning [it was Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can you? By Dr. Suess], and everytime Mr. Brown claps, he made thunder. I remember one night there was thunder and we were really afraid of it, but couldn’t go downstairs because we were too young. Kato and I kind of just stood at the top of the steps crying because we were afraid of the thunder, and our dad just told us “It’s just Mr. Brown clapping”. I don’t know if that’s my favorite, but it’s definitely an early one I remember. We were like babies though, maybe 2 or 3 years old.

Kato: I can’t remember our best memory, but a good one is when we went to Disney World. All I remember is that we went to a resort and played in the pool there and then went to Disney World. I don’t know, I mean there’s so many memories that I can’t think of all of them, but I know we have a lot of good ones.

Is twin telepathy real?

Name a number 1-10

Ahsaan: 7

Kato: 7

Name a color

Ahsaan: Orange

Kato: Red

Name a movie

Ahsaan: Spiderman

Kato: Madagascar

Name a celebrity

Ahsaan: Leonardo DiCaprio

Kato: Michael B. Jordan

Name a song

Ahsaan: I think we can lock in for this one

Kato: Alright ready?

Together: Beat it [by Michael Jackson].

A little competition never hurts, so we played a game of Who knows their twin better?

What is your twin's favorite food?

Ahsaan: Probably something with chicken (+1 point)

Kato: Mac & Cheese (we gave him half a point)

Who is your twin’s favorite musical artist?

Ahsaan: Drake (we gave him half a point)

Kato: Jamiroquai (+1 point) 

What is your twin’s favorite holiday?

Ahsaan: Christmas (+1 point)

Kato: Thanksgiving (+1 point)

What is your twin’s favorite fast food restaurant?

Ahsaan: McDonald’s? (correct answer is Five Guys)

Kato: Probably Chick-fil-a. (correct answer is McDonalds)

The final score was tied up, each with 2.5 points out of 4 possible points. 

Now for the questions we’ve all been waiting for…

Who’s the favorite twin? (both immediately point to each other)

Who would win in a fight? (both said themselves)