Marcus and Darius Gadsden '20

Marcus and Darius Gadsden look identical.  

 

Their curly black hair, expressive eyes, and bright smiles make it easy to mistake one for the other.  

They’re twins after all — twins who also happen to spend most of their time together. After school, they compete on CM’s Speech and Debate Team, race on the swim team, and participate in the Peer Ministry Program. 

 

However, beneath the surface, deeper interests have guided them toward different pathsNow, their paths, paved from their experiences at CM, look anything but identical.  

 

“This summer, Darius and I split roads with what we were doing,” said Marcus, who interned at Brodigan and Gardiner, a law firm in downtown Boston.  

 

During his internship, Marcus observed legal cases each week from July to August. There, he learned about the day-to-day life of an attorney.  

 

A few miles away in Roxbury, Darius interned at a community center where he taught kids how to code. 

 

“Like most kids, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grow up,” said Darius.  

“But, CM offers a lot of opportunities for kids to figure out what they want to do.”  

 

Darius said that he loved math and science before he entered CM in the 7th grade  

 

with this brother. During the 7th grade trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, he built a strong relationship with his science teacher, Ms. Nora McGauley.  

 

On the trip, Darius explored tide pools, animals, and soils — the same ones he read about in textbooks — up close with Ms. McGauley. She helped him see math and science through a unique lens from that experience.  

 

“She offered me a whole new world of what science could be about,” Darius said. 

 

“We had classes outside all the time to show us how science exists all around us.” 

 

A few years later, when Darius entered the high school, he asked Ms. McGauley to advise him in the CM Scholars Program. With the support of a mentor, Darius felt empowered to take on an array of different opportunities on campus. 

This began with basketball. Darius tried out for the basketball team twice. But both times he left the gym without a spot on the roster. 

 

Instead of dwelling on it, Darius found a niche elsewhere. He and his brother had joined the Speech and Debate team and swim team during their freshman year and found success in both.  

 

The twins earned praise from their faculty mentors and rose into the spotlight by their junior year. 

 

“[Darius and Marcus] have been educated by their peers and the wider speech and debate community, really,” said Br. Anthony Cavet, coach of the Speech and Debate Team.  

 

 “Through Speech and Debate, they’ve been able to discuss social topics such as race and veteran rights. It’s made them think deep about many complex, deep topics.” 

 

In 2019, the twins won first place for Duo Interpretation at the Yale Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament. Both earned varsity letters on the swim team too. 

 

While Darius grew into a captain for the swim team, Marcus found a deeper love for the social issues discussed at Speech and Debate competitions.  

 

Those competitions lingered in the back of his mind when he began the Beyond CM college admissions program his junior year. The program required him to write a discernment paper in theology class that responded to a set of questions posed by the theologian Fr. Michael Himes. 

 

“[Fr. Himes] asks us, ‘What brings us joy?’ ‘What are you good at?’ ‘How is it going to help other people in your community?’” said Marcus. 

 

Those questions gave Marcus the opportunity to step back and evaluate where his skill-set fit best. 

 

“It actually helped me come to some sort of epiphany,” he said. 

 

Marcus loved service and advocacy from his time in CM’s Peer Ministry program. Plus, he prided himself on his ability to debate an argument against anybody. 

 

“My parents joked that Marcus always needed to have the last word,” his brother said, with a laugh. 

 

When Marcus finished his discernment paper, a career in law appeared more and more clear. 

 

“I feel like, if I become a public attorney, I can help others who can’t afford to get help,” he said. 

 

“I think that this will bring me happiness instead of just being satisfied with money.” 

 

Coincidentally, a friend who Marcus met on the 7th grade trip to Acadia National Park — the same trip his brother met Ms. McGauley on — learned about his interest in law. 

 

The friend connected Marcus with his dad, who works at Brodigan and Gardiner. When Marcus completed his internship with the firm and returned to CM his senior year, he signed up for AP Comparative Politics and Government determined to prepare himself for a rigorous college course-load. 

Looking back on his own growth, Marcus sees Darius growing in his own distinct career path too. 

 

Focusing on a STEM related career, Darius trusts his guidance counselors to help him harness his love for the math and sciences.  

 

“The guidance counselors try and help you figure out who you’re trying to become,” said Darius. 

 

“I talk to my guidance counselor every day. She’s always open for a conversation and wants to know how I’m doing” 

 

Regardless of which career the twins choose after college, they will leave CM confident enough to continue the path they paved for themselves.  

 

“I’ve grown to be a lot more confident in myself ever since I’ve come to CM,” added Darius. 

 

“You be who you are, you’re confident in it, and there’s nobody there to tell you that you’re wrong for it.”