Trading places: Sisters swap lives on TV show
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

JENNIFER AMATO Studious Megan Maroney, left, and her more sociable sister Allison switched lives for the Style Network show "Try My Life."

NORTH BRUNSWICK - If you could switch lives with any person for one day, who would you choose? The new Style Network reality show "Try My Life" explores the possibility of living life in someone else's shoes.

Township residents Megan Maroney, 21, and her 16-year-old sister Allison decided to give it a shot, auditioning when representatives of the show came to North Brunswick Township High School in May.

"We are really different characters and our lifestyles are so different, they thought it would make a good story to switch our lives and try new things," Allison said.

While Megan is very focused on academic achievement - she attends the Pharmacy School at Rutgers University and does plenty of community service - Allison is more of a social butterfly, spending time on her hair, makeup and boys.

For the switch, Allison spent her time as a Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital pharmacy technician, doing rounds, making IVs and filling prescriptions, which were later discarded and not given to patients. She also conducted a community service project for Rutgers' Circle Kay, promoting a minigolf event to raise money for the organization while writing a speech to deliver at the event. And all of this was done without doing her hair and makeup first.

"People were there to help me, but mostly I had to get things done," the teen said. "I just did so much work sitting down, writing things and making phone calls."

Megan's task was to go back to high school and take Allison's classes. She had to put makeup on in the morning, take a tennis lesson and hang out with Allison's boyfriend. For her final task, she had to ask out a guy on a date.

"I like spending time with Allie's friends because they are a nice group of girls, and I got to see what they get to do with Allie every day," Megan said.

Although they didn't consider switching lives difficult, the girls agreed that it was awkward sometimes to be removed from their comfort zone. Yet they both learned valuable lessons about each other, as well as themselves.

"I learned that Megan is really responsible," Allison noted. "The things she does I [used to think] wasted her time, but she's a selfless person. The hard work she does really pays off in the end."

"I didn't really think Allie worked hard at anything but I got to see what she did work hard at," Megan said about her sister's tennis lessons and TV Production course at school. "To get up every morning and put all that makeup on, it's difficult. Even though it's a different kind of work than I do, she still does work hard."

Megan's reflection was accurate, as even Allie doubted herself before realizing what she was capable of.

"I was not sure I could pull off [the golf outing] and have people at the event ... but I think it came out well. I was surprised what I could do in a short amount of time," she said.

And Megan finally understood that sociability is not a negative characteristic to possess.

"I've always been the type of person to fly under the radar and not have too much attention on me. But now that the cameras followed me around, and especially with the makeover, [I realized] it's not that bad. I think I built up my confidence a little. I'm not so scared to have people look at me."

Despite a newfound understanding of each other, the girls would not want to change lives permanently.

"This really makes you appreciate the other person. It's one thing to say she's really responsible, but living one's life you can really see it. It's a really weird experience we wouldn't have gotten to do otherwise," Allison said.

Although the show is supposed to depict one day in the life of its subjects, taping actually lasted four days in June with a follow-up scheduled a few weeks later. Days could start as early as 5 a.m. and last as late as 2 a.m., but the girls feel the edited version accurately presented their daily lives.

"In that respect, it was kind of not real but everything we did was real ... they just captured it how they wanted it," Allison said.

The show is continuously airing repeats at various dates and times. Visit www.StyleNetwork.com for local listings.