Travis and Tracy Coleman are 33-year-old brothers who have only spent a year and half of their lives apart.

The fraternal twins are originally from Henderson County and attended WKU together. Now, they work at the Central Heat Plant, and each of them teaches an agriculture class.

They also live together, and the only time they’ve spent apart was when Travis took a construction job in Las Vegas.

Even though they aren’t identical, Travis said people often confuse him for Tracy and vice versa.

“Being a twin and looking so much alike, you learn to answer to either name,” Travis said.

Nashville graduate student Chelsea Williams said she has known the twins for two years. She was introduced to Travis and Tracy through a professor.

She met Tracy again on a school trip to South Dakota.

“Their mannerisms are exactly the same,” Williams said. “They act just alike.”

Tracy has been at the central steam plant since 2006, and Travis has been there since 2007.

They said they started working there for the tuition benefits. They got to take classes for free as WKU employees.

“It helped me in my graduate work because university employees get their tuition paid for,” Travis said. “It allowed me to come back to school.”

Travis has taught a fruit and vegetable production class at WKU for two years.

This is Tracy’s first year teaching at WKU, though. He teaches a class on food production.

Travis and Tracy also own and work on their own farm.

Travis and Tracy are involved in local farmers’ markets and plan to help open one soon.

“Most of the things we do, we do together,” Tracy said. “We aren’t married, and we don’t have kids. We pretty much hang out all the time.”

They didn’t always get along so well, though, Travis said.

“I have a black eye in almost all of my baby pictures,” he said.

Travis said that Tracy, who is slightly older, gave him several black eyes when they were younger.

Travis and Tracy said they also have some differences.

“People will tell you that our personalities are different,” Travis said.

He said he is more laid-back and outgoing, and Tracy is more serious and introverted.

“He does all the talking,” Tracy said. “I just stay in the background.”

Williams agreed that the twins’ personalities are different.

“Travis is a lot more of a people person, and Tracy is very goal-oriented,” she said.

The brothers said to keep from getting on each other’s nerves, they take time apart from each other.

They take off work on different nights so they can have their own personal time, Tracy said.

Travis and Tracy also take a ten-day vacation on their own every year.

“You can only be together so much,” he said.

Tracy said someone has to be on their farm, so when he’s gone, his brother has to stay and vice versa.

“Last year I went to Las Vegas for 10 days, and when I came back, he went to Nebraska,” he said.

Travis said there is a fine line he and his brother have to walk with the amount of time they spend together.

“We have to separate and do our own things,” he said.