Alumni Share Their #UCFLoveStory2020

Matt and I met while working together at the Alafaya Chili’s just after it opened. Later that same year, we paired as dyads on the 1995 Orientation Team. We married in 2000 and celebrate our 20th anniversary this September. He’s my best friend. Together, we’ve traveled to three continents, made two amazing kids and have attended more UCF football games than we can count. We are proud UCF alumni and love that Orlando is our home.

Rob and I met at his fraternity’s Super Bowl party in January 2003. We became fast friends and almost didn’t pursue dating as we cherished our friendship. Needless to say, by the summer of 2003, we were committed. Rob received his undergraduate degree in accounting and finance and his graduate degree in accounting. My undergraduate degree was in psychology with my graduate degree in social work. Our studies and career choices couldn’t be more different, but we supported each other through school, internships and first jobs. I didn’t hesitate when Rob asked me to be his wife. We married in 2009 and purchased our first home in 2010. Rob was diagnosed with Crohn’s in October 2018; that was shocking and we’re still seeking relief. We remain devoted UCF fans especially during football season. I suspect our love story is just getting started!

One was born in Fort Lauderdale, the other in Miami. Both ended up at college in Orlando. Jessica lived in the UCF dorms in year one, while Phil lived at Alafaya Club Apartments, 1 mile away. During their first year of school, they took over that town without knowing anything of the other’s existence. Year two: Jessica is so done with dorm life, and Phil is loving the club (Alafaya Club). Jessica happens to find her new home at the same club — in the same building. Yes, these two shared an address before they even met. One night, as Jessica and her roommates were settling into their new home, they heard the bass from a party happening in the unit below them. As days went by, they noticed that these were potentially some cute boys they should meet. Their tool of choice? Word magnets. They left a message for the boys in #203: “Come say hi — 303” right on the front door. The boys got the message, invited the girls to a party, and at that party made plans for a night downtown the following week. Somewhere between the overcrowded bus ride that brought Jessica next to Phil and the dance floor where they killed it for the first time, two hearts became one. They hit it off and before they knew it, made plans for their first date. A few dates later, they made it official on September 25, 2012. The days and years to follow involved fun nights, study nights, late nights, early days. They did it all together and fell in love along the way. They attended UCF together, cooked together, worked out together, danced, talked and grew up together during those college years. They made them count! Weekend getaways, romantic dates, crazy nights, ultimately leading to graduation. After graduation, they decided to build a home together and share an address again — on purpose this time. Countless vacations, sweet moments and incredible memories later these two are best friends and lovers. One can’t exist without the other.

We first met on Tinder; we matched, and he sent me a message. After a couple days of messaging, we decided to meet in person. We met in the Student Union on a Tuesday afternoon and had lunch together. We ate, sat and talked for almost four hours. I was almost late to my evening class because I didn’t want to leave. We went on a few more dates after that and he asked me to be his girlfriend. We dated for a little over two years when, to my surprise, he proposed to me in front of the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom in front of both of our families! We have now been engaged for over a year and are eagerly looking forward to our wedding day while I finish my last semester of law school and he studies for his MBA while working at Disney World.

In 2010, a sorority sister encouraged me to go to formal with one of her boyfriend’s fraternity brothers, Andrew. We laughed and had fun, but we went our separate ways afterward. I graduated and moved back home to Tampa Bay for graduate school. Then I returned to Orlando to stay with friends for New Year’s Eve 2013. I ran into a familiar face downtown, Andrew of course, who happened to be my kiss at midnight. Yet we went our separate ways again. Fast forward to fall 2014: Walking to my car after a Luke Bryan concert, who do I run into again? Andrew. This time he was not letting me get away. Finally in April 2015 we decided to give long distance a shot. We spent hours sitting in I-4 traffic traveling back and forth from Tampa to Orlando to spend the weekends together — going to more concerts, the beach and of course UCF games. I then made the move back to Orlando. We have since bought a house, added a fur baby (a golden retriever named Knight) to our family, and tied the knot last April! As I said in our vows, if our love story isn’t proof that timing is everything and everything happens for a reason then I don’t know what is. We don’t love many things more than each other, our pups and our alma mater.

I met Melissa in physical therapy school. On the first day of class I asked her to have lunch with me at Loco’s. Being in the same class for two years, we found out how well we worked together as a couple. We both still practice physical therapy in Orlando and have two little Knights. We still live close to UCF and have season tickets to the football games. Go Knights!

We are high school sweethearts who took our love to UCF together. We graduated in the same semester and then got married two weeks later. There is nothing better than celebrating your love by walking across the graduation stage together and then down the aisle! Go Knights!

Little did I know that while I was walking the campus in the ’90s, so was the man of my dreams. We went to some of the same events on campus, restaurants near the school and night spots in Orlando, but never managed to cross paths. It just wasn’t time yet. Twenty-five long years later — and thanks to some very special friends in our lives — we found each other on a dating app, and UCF sparked our first conversation. (He questioned if I watch the football games or not and had no idea I’m a super fan of our school just like he is.) We are two peas in a pod since day one seeing games at the Bounce House, traveling a little, spending time with family and friends, and just enjoying each other’s company every day! I am the luckiest girl in this world to have found my knight in shining armor! I am so grateful that we found each other and that there will never be a house divided! I love you Paul. Go Knights!

We met on the Orientation Team in 2010 and became best friends on the O-Team retreat. I had a boyfriend at the time, but when we broke up, Alex was the first one waiting by my door with a pint of ice cream and two spoons. It was only a few weeks before we were officially dating. We both were resident assistants on campus and loved any chance we got to work together. We finally got married at the Reflecting Pond in 2015 and had our reception at the Fairwinds Alumni Center, with our wedding colors as black and gold. We’ve been married four years and are expecting our first child in July.

Robert and I both graduated from UCF with our bachelor’s in nursing. He graduated in 2010, and I graduated in 2011. We both were aquaintances at the time. We started dating when I worked with him at AdventHealth Daytona Beach in the ICU in April 2014. It is like people say: Love is when you least expect it. Also, I joke with him, he won me over because he brought me coffee and helped turn my patients at work. We got engaged April 24, 2017 and married on November 4, 2018. He presently works as a nurse anesthetist, and I work as an nursing instructor for UCF and nurse practitioner for AdventHealth Hospice. Also, we are currently expecting a baby boy, Victor. We are grateful that UCF and nursing brought us together, and we can’t imagine our life any other way. We love each other very much through this journey of life.

We started dating in 2007 while we were both at UCF. He studied finance and I studied public administration/nonprofit management. We ended up having our wedding at the UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center on Feb 29, 2012. We still go to football games and even have our boys wear UCF gear. This year will be our second true anniversary since we got married on leap day.

Lukas and I met on the intramural fields during a co-rec intramural flag football game back in 2014 (shout out to the Citronauts). Ever since, we’ve spent every fall cheering on our Knights and every spring counting down the days until football returns. Our love for UCF even supersedes our own love story: We are literally planning our wedding date around football season! We couldn’t say “I do” without UCF, so we are forever grateful. GKCO!

I met Sabrina my sophomore year of undergrad at UCF. I was looking for work, and a friend who happened to work at the Starbucks on Memory Mall mentioned he could get me an interview. I said, “Why not?” Well, after sleeping in two hours past my scheduled interview time and accidentally breaking a ceramic cup when leaving the store I ended up with the job — yikes. It wasn’t until a month later that I met Sabrina, who had also started working at the very same Starbucks a week before me, and to be fair we didn’t share a shift until two months after that. Then came that day that we officially met and hit it off. We hit it off so well that I forgot to ask her for her number and luckily one of her friends —who also happened to work at our Starbucks, assisted me. The rest is history: We moved in together our senior year, graduated, stayed in Orlando for a year working in our respective fields, got engaged and recently bought a house in Spring Hill, Florida. Our wedding is this October!

Alex and I were both very involved at UCF and we met in the UCF Arena as we were both planning the Homecoming concert. I was in Homecoming Exec and Alex was on CAB. What’s even crazier is we were both out-of-state students and bonded that special day in November 2009 realizing that we both went to the same high school, just outside of Philadelphia. That was the first moment that Alex felt like home to me. We hosted Luke Bryan, Asher Roth and T-Pain that night for an incredible concert! Fast forward after graduation: I had just moved back to Pennsylvania (after living in Washington D.C. for five-plus years) and Alex moved back to Pennsylvania too! We went to the dinner and the movies as “friends from UCF” and the rest is history. We rescued a beautiful dog named Carson (named after Carson Wentz on the Philadelphia Eagles) and live in a warm and loving home in the the suburbs of Philadelphia, the city where we both grew up. Alex proposed in January 2019 and we are getting married this year! April 2020 can’t come soon enough. And yes, of course we are having UCF moments throughout the wedding. GO KNIGHTS!

My husband and I met in high school and started dating our freshman year at UCF. He had liked me for a while, but wasn’t able to work up the courage to ask me out until college. We dated through our college years and got married soon after graduation. We’ve had three wonderful years together as husband and wife and we couldn’t be happier! Thanks for so many great memories, UCF, but mostly thanks to the Marching Knights for bringing us together. #MKLove

We met April Fools’ Day freshman year in the Nike 102 common room on the first floor. I had no idea he had been living in my same building that whole year and had never seen him before. I have a fraternal twin and looked up from studying to see two guys who looked exactly alike. I piped right up and said, “Hi! Are you guys twins?” One of them starting talking with me, and we sat and chatted for hours — forget the studying. We became best friends over that summer and by August 2013 he took me to Disney on our first official date and asked me to be his princess during the Wishes fireworks! College together was an absolute blast. I swear, he gets so much credit for keeping me focused through nursing school and now my doctorate. In July 2018, he took me back to my hometown with my family and to my favorite beach, and at sunset got down on one knee and asked me to be his queen forever. On March 9, 2019, we were married! He is truly my knight in shining armor and my very best friend!

Jake and I met as student employees at the Student Union — he was on the Event Services team and I was the administration manager for the student staff. Jake broke his foot on the job, we filled out worker’s comp paperwork together and the rest is history. If you ask him, it was his performance during the SU Harlem Shake that sealed the deal. We’ve been together seven years and recently tied the knot!

We became acquainted in high school but actually got to know each other once we both moved to Orlando for school. Ironically, we both chose UCF in large part to be closer to our exes who we were dating at the time. But UCF brought us together. Our first official date was at a UCF basketball game. We took classes together, went to football games and concerts at the arena together, and supported each other at our respective graduations. The first four years of our relationship were so intertwined with UCF that it is impossible to reflect on either undergraduate or her without remembering the other.

Randall and I met in the spring of 1994, my second semester at UCF. We worked at the library but opposite shifts and often saw each other in passing. I lived on campus and it became a regular occurence that I woke up with a rose on the doorstep. I think it drove my roommates crazy. We were engaged after a year and married in February of 1997. We actually tried to get married on Valentine’s Day but the church wouldn’t allow a Friday wedding, so our anniversary is the 15th — a great excuse to make it a two-day celebration every year! We love Knight Nation and have raised our son and daughter as die-hard fans.

Courtney and I met at a party while both attending UCF; it was one of those “meant to be” stories. We were both supposed to be elsewhere that night, but the universe decided we needed to meet! We hit it off right away. Within a week I had asked her out and within the first couple of weeks we were completely in love. Fast forward many, many UCF football games attended together and we have now been together for over 8 years, married for over three years and now have the biggest little fan, our 2-month-old baby named Jaxson!

We met at a frat party on New Year’s Eve of 2001. I was dating one of his brothers and trying to convince him to kiss my friend at midnight. Our paths crossed again over the next few years, but it wasn’t until our last social in the Spring of 2004 that sparks flew. We ended up going to formal together and making it official just a few weeks before graduation. We managed to be lost distance the first year while I was in law school. He moved to be near me in 2005. Once I graduated in 2007, we knew we wanted to come back to where it all began. We got married in 2008 and now live in east Orlando with our two kids.

We have known each other since middle school, but didn’t really get together until 2012 at UCF. It was so fun to bond over UCF games and all the fun there was around Orlando! As we approached May of 2014 and I graduated and moved to Colorado, and Steven stayed at UCF to finish his degree. In December of 2014 I came back for his graduation only to find out that it would be the day we started our forever. UCF is where our story of love started and then grew again on Dec. 13, 2014 to start our forever! We now are a family of three with the cutest Knights fan I’ve ever met. We will forever be grateful for UCF.

Jeremy and I met on the first day of class our freshman year. Jeremy sat down next to me and maybe five minutes into the class realized he hadn’t read the part of the syllabus that said he needed to print out some sheets to bring with him. So he asked me to borrow one and that was that. We connected on a shared love of sports, especially volleyball. We moved into apartments across the hall from each other, and along with some amazing roommates, loved every minute of college. We attended every single UCF Athletics event possible and road tripped to a few bowl games. Five years later, Jeremy proposed on a Monday night after a dinner date at Wackadoo’s in the Student Union. He walked me past the building in which we met. He had planned to actually go inside the building but of course hadn’t fully prepared and didn’t realize there was a class in progress. He proposed on the bridge in front of the Psychology building. We both still bleed black and gold, partly because it’s the place that brought us together. When we planned our wedding, our colors were black and gold. When we adopted a dog, we named her Ritter which is Knight in German. In September 2019, we had our first baby, and Jamie has already been to two football games. It’s been a fun 10 years and we have UCF to thank!

We met at a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity party. Although I wasn’t in Greek life, my friends convinced me to go to the party. He was 6 foot 5 and playing foosball with his friends. I saw a tall guy and decided to walked up to him and ask to play, to which he replied: “I’m actually in the middle of a game.” Eventually, he told me to come play a game with him and the rest is history! Five years later we still consider ourselves blessed to be Knights and to have found each other.

We are theme park fanatics that met as interns at SeaWorld during the summer of 2014. Our mutual passion for themed entertainment ignited an instant connection that compelled us to keep in touch as Zoe returned to school in Boston. At the end of her freshman year, she moved to Orlando to transfer to UCF’s College of Business Administration as a marketing major. She quickly fell in love with the city and the UCF Knights, and as young UCF alumni (2018), we have traveled all over to watch the UCF football team captivate the nation. We love traveling the country to experience new theme parks and take great pride in the fact that our relationship originates in the theme park capital of the world, with a solid bedrock in our alma mater.

We met through mutual volleyball friends and got married in 2018!

We met in our first college class ever (Human Species in Classroom Building I). Nineteen years later (13 of marriage), we have three kids and are deeply in love. Thank you, UCF!

Rick and I started dating at the end of my high school senior year. I went to UCF that fall, 1993, and attended the first year without him. I was living in Volusia Hall and would check my mailbox daily for bits of mail and gifts he would send me. I would also get stamps from the stamp machine that gave out one cent stamps and I would save enough to mail a letter and stick them all on the envelope. Rick moved to campus the summer of ’93 just as I was going home for the summer. We were finally able to attend together beginning the fall of 1993. Since I lived in Volusia and Lake Claire, we’d often eat on campus and we spent a lot of extra time there. Rick graduated in 1995 and started his graduate program. I graduated in 1996 and started teaching. We were married just before my graduation and lived in an apartment on Econlockhatchee Drive. Rick later finished his first master’s degree in 1998. We are both in education administration and have been married 24 years this year and have three children. We love UCF and have many fond memories.

I had to move all the way to Florida, just to fall in love with a guy from Philly. Just two days after high school graduation and on my 18th birthday, I was off to UCF as an out-of-state student from Philly for the Summer B program. I didn’t know a single person at UCF or even Orlando in general, and I was pretty excited about that. But you don’t really realize just how intimidating independence in a new city is until you are in a quiet dorm officially on your own. Before school started, I joined the Class of 2018 Facebook page and was added to a group chat with a few other kids from the Philly area. So on a whim, I messaged the one guy who was also enrolled in the Summer B program to see if he wanted to meet up. And sure enough, with his Phillies T-shirt and UCF baseball hat he met me in the Neptune courtyard and I finally found my sense of home. On June 21, 2014 — my birthday and the first day of college over 1,000 miles from home — I met the love of my life, who is conveniently from just 20 miles away from my home in Philly! A friendship blossomed, and he was automatically my go-to friend. We spent the whole summer as friends and then in the beginning of fall semester he made his move and asked me if I wanted to “go steady.” In the five and a half years we’ve been together we’ve shared so many amazing memories — the majority of which took place during our time at UCF. We spent every single game cheering in the student section cheering for our Knights (from 0-12 to 12-0), literal all nighters in All Knight Study, mindless conversations in the bungalow (what we call the raised grass area on Memory Mall with the palm trees), classy nights dressing up for a Greek life formal, and lazy nights watching movies in bed. Senior year was particularly special because we got to witness an epic Knights football season going undefeated and winning the Peach Bowl, and then got to watch the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl and celebrate with their victory parade in Disney. #GKCO #FlyEaglesFly Looking back, because I met him on day one, there’s not a single college memory that Adam wasn’t a part of. We found ourselves and became who we are today because of our time in Orlando. After we graduated, we stayed in Orlando for about of year until I got a job opportunity in — guess where — Philadelphia. Our love story has come full circle and we are now back living together in the city where we both grew up. It’s been such a journey and I am thankful every day that I took that leap of faith to go out of state at UCF without knowing a single person because it lead me to exactly who I needed to meet: a boy from Philly.

We met as lab partners in an undergrad biology course. He thought his roommate would be his partner but it was actually me, which was what we were both secretly hoping for. We began dating shortly after and have been together for 11 years on Jan. 30; our second wedding anniversary is on Jan. 15. In 2014, he decided to change careers and return to school to study nursing; then I became diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma about two months after I completed my Master’s degree. He also was one of student nurses who assisted at Orlando Regional Medican Center during the night of the Pulse shooting. We have gone through many challenges together but have luckily pulled through thanks to the support system we gained through UCF. We’re forever grateful that a lab brought us together!

We met on the UCF Class of 2016 Facebook page in November 2012. Alex commented something funny, and I liked it. A friend request was sent, and we started talking back and forth over Facebook and texting. After two months of this we finally decided to meet in person and hit it off instantly. We definitely bonded over our love for all things UCF and we’ve just renewed our UCF football season tickets in the cabana for the third year in a row. We just got married on Jan. 4, and I am so grateful to UCF for bringing us together. Charge On!

James and I met when we were in graduate school in 2015. He studied aerospace engineering while I studied counselor education. Everyone told us that dating in graduate school was a recipe for disaster, but we made it! Four years later we moved this romance to Houston. He’s a flight controller at NASA and I’m in renewables. We’re changing the world together one step at a time!

Gabe and I met on the first day of freshman orientation for the Rosen College of Hospitality Management. He sat next to me, and I mentioned I had a boyfriend. We had several classes together, and he never gave up hope. He pursued me until we went on our first date. The rest was history!

We went to UCF at different times and never would have met on campus. Richard moved to Austin in 2013 (the year I graduated) and joined the local UCF Alumni club. I moved to Austin in 2018, joined the alumni club and signed up to be our event planner. Little did I know so did he! The people on the board assigned he and I as Co-event chairs and we met at our first meeting, June 2018. Richard and I got together for the first time to plan events for our club, and I even brought pen and paper for some serious planning. We spent approximately 20 minutes talking about event planning and the rest of the night felt like a date. We were inseparable after that; we will celebrate our two year anniversary inJuly! I am so thankful to our Austin UCF Alumni group for assigning us as co-chairs and for this person I now call my roommate and the love of my life! Thanks, UCF!

Blake and I met through a mutual friend on the night of the UAB vs. UCF game in October of 2010. I had never been to a college football game before, and I had no idea that on that night I would fall in love twice: once with our beloved Knights, and once with my future husband! Blake and I became best friends first (due to me being in a prior relationship), but when that ended I immediately turned to my best friend, and we have been together ever since. Blake went on to graduate from UCF shortly after we started dating and moved back to South Florida to begin law school, while I stayed in the UCF Theatre department and continued to go to games for the both of us. In 2014 we were married in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, where our wedding colors were black and gold (of course). In 2015 we got our first dog together, a spirited pup named Knightro. And in 2016 we welcomed our first child, Lucy Belle. In 2018 we decided that South Florida living wasn’t for us, so we moved home to Orlando. It’s our place where we both feel at home. We love being surrounded by so many Knights fans, and we truly love going back to where it all started…the Bounce House (we even have a brick out front, my wedding present to Blake). Go Knights!

We met in 2011. I was choreographing a fashion show for Sangam (Indian Student Association). He reluctantly took part, but still showed up in good spirits. We took a few classes together here and there and started to really care and respect each other as good friends. We both travelled to the Dominican Republic in 2013 for a medical mission trip through Global Medical Training. A week or so later he asked me out. Sorab was my first boyfriend, so he made sure to make it as special as possible. After studying late at the library one night, Sorab escorted me to Garage H where my car was covered in pink and green balloons. From eating falafel in the Student Union to waiting in the long lines for UCF Universal knights, our time at UCF gave us some of the best memories for a lifetime. Fast forward six years, and we are newly married and so grateful that we studied, met and fell in love at UCF. Go Knights!

We met through a mutual friend and at first I wasn’t a fan of him — but that didn’t last long and we became very good friends. Turns out, we grew up a street away from each other in South Florida and never knew each other. Senior year we started dating and fell in love. Four years later we welcomed a baby girl and got married in 2018.

We met the first week of the fall semester at a welcome-back-to-campus event and we fell for each other hard. Brandon was actively involved in his fraternity and pursuing a degree in history. I was a nursing student, involved in my sorority, LEAD Scholars, Sigma Alpha Pi, and later Homecoming Court, President’s Leadership Council, and Order of Pegasus. Brandon and I grew up 10 miles away from each other, but it took going to UCF for us to actually meet. The foundation of our relationship was built by UCF. From walks to Lake Claire and sitting on the dock, tailgates and football games, to Knight-Thon and other philanthropy events, every memory of the first three years of our relationship bleed black and gold. We were lucky enough to also find our best friends at UCF who stood by our sides at our wedding and helped us welcome our first child together. Even though we aren’t in Orlando anymore, UCF will always hold our hearts.

Erin and Frank started as high school sweethearts and rekindled their love at UCF after Frank spent a year at the Air Force Academy Preperatory School. Erin worked part time as a human resource assistant at UCF Army ROTC while Frank was a cadet on scholarship. Frank deployed the following year after graduation, and they finally moved in together after Erin graduated. Now married with two kids, Erin and Frank live in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C.

Loren and Alex met through a club at UCF in January of 2017 and started dating a few months later. With Alex originally from Australia and Loren born and raised in California, it still shocks them that they both ended up at UCF at the same time. Recently engaged, they decided to take their announcement photos on campus as a nod to the place where their love story began. Loren has just returned to UCF to complete a master’s degree in human resources.

From Vincent: Andrea and I met when we were working as student housing ambassadors on campus for the Department of Housing and Residence Life. We fell in love and ended up getting engaged this past May. I proposed shortly after we both walked with our degrees from UCF! I also proposed in a UCF polo because what could be more fitting? From Andrea: I met the love of my actually on the job, working for UCF Housing. I will never forget the day that summer he walked into Housing Services as his first day on the job. For months I told my friends about the “cute boy at work that stares at me all the time” or about how awkward it was when it was just the two of us working a shift together. Fast forward almost three years, and we are graduated and he still works for UCF Housing! He just can’t get away from the place that brought us together! And he proposed at our graduation party this past year where of course everyone was in UCF colors! UCF will always be a part of my favorite love story.

My friend decided to take physics lab during the summer of 2011, so I said, “Sure, I guess I’ll join.” Jeff and his friend were taking physics together that semester too, and Jeff decided to change his lab to join his friend at the last second. We all ended up in the same lab group, and I noticed Jeff right away. We hit it off and eventually starting hanging out outside of lab group and have been together ever since. Once we both graduated I got a job in Colorado right as he got a full time offer at his current job. He turned it down, took a chance and we started our life in Colorado. We were married March 4, 2017 and welcomed our beautiful baby boy Oliver Wyatt on Valentine’s Day 2018. We are both successful engineers living in Parker, Colorado and are loving our active lifestyle. We are so grateful to UCF for helping us find each other. Go Knights!

My husband would say he joined the UCF rowing team because he heard it was coed. Jay and I met at UCF while going to school there. I even sat in on one of his classes to take notes for him. We met on the UCF rowing team while traveling to Philadelphia for a crew championship. He won the Dad Vail, and I was so excited for him. He asked me to come to a swimming pool party, which ended up being a kiddie pool. And from there we started dating and had so much fun going to school together at UCF. We would sit by the Reflecting Pond at lunch. These were the days when you could walk out to the dirt parking lot and visit the local Townhouse restaurant in Oviedo for a $2.50 breakfast. Jay graduated in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology, and I graduated a year later with my bachelor’s in nursing. Since then, we have had four children, and this year will mark our 30th wedding anniversary. Two of our children so far have graduated from UCF, and my youngest is also looking to be a UCF Knight. Our oldest has gone back and has now graduated with his master’s degree from UCF. We are proud tailgating parents and will do anything to watch the UCF Knights football team play. Three years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and my husband planned a trip to take me back to all our UCF stomping grounds, including the Reflecting Pond. He planned ahead of time for the UCF women’s rowing coach to take me and him out in their boat to watch the girls row. I felt as if I was back in time reliving all our great experiences. A lot has changed there, including a state-of-the-art rowing facility, equipped with all the latest technology. Back in the ’80s it was an orange grove and we ran along a dirt road and there was one press bench made out of wood for all of us to use. The men’s Central Florida Rowing team ,where my son Jordan was rowing at UCF even made up shirts for me with the logo “pulling for Mrs. Martin” with the breast cancer ribbon being the boat. They surprised me at one of their races with all the CFR team wearing the shirts. I have so many fond memories of UCF as does my husband and loved going to both of our sons’ UCF graduations. It was a feeling of deja vu and knowing just how far we’ve come in 30 years always looking to see what UCF has in store for us. We wear our UCF Knights clothing proudly and always charging on through thick and thin.

Justin and I began dating at 15 and 16 years old and graduated from the same high school in 2010. We both attended UCF for our undergraduate studies where we were involved in intramural sports and many campus activities. We love some UCF football! We loved being UCF Knights and always found something to do on campus together. Our favorite thing was going to the gym and playing co-ed intramural soccer. In 2013, on our sixth anniversary, he decided to propose — it was such an exciting time for us. We graduated a few months later in 2014, went on to pursue higher education and got married in 2016. We are now expecting our little bundle of UCF knight in May 2020! As our love has grown from high school sweethearts to college sweethearts and now into parenthood we are so grateful for our time we had at UCF. Thirteen years later together and still going strong!

Gary and I met when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore at UCF. We initially were just friends and spent a lot of time together going to many UCF activities including Late Knights, sporting events and intramural basketball games (he was my team’s coach). By my junior year, we began dating and I’m so glad we did! Gary graduated from UCF with a degree in information technology and I received my degree in legal studies. After UCF, we relocated to Tallahassee, Florida, where I attended law school at Florida State University. We were married in 2016, and in 2017 welcomed our future Knight, Gary Smiekle Jr. We still visit UCF every year for Homecoming and are forever grateful to UCF for bringing us together.

We met through Theta Alpha and KYX, and between going to events together and hanging out we eventually started dating in 2015. We got married November 2, 2018 and have never been happier! GKCO!

We met in middle school and we couldn’t stand each other, but as the years went on we became best friends. After high school, I went away for college and William stayed home to complete his associate’s degree. After months of begging my best friend to transfer to UCF, he finally did and we were ready to take UCF by storm. The more time I took to show him why I fell in love with UCF, the more I fell for him too. We soon started dating and became inseparable. Not only did UCF bring my best friend closer to me but it also showed me that he was the love of my life. Now we are happily married and living our own adventure. We both have two UCF degrees and are diehard UCF athletics fans. Now that we live in Lincoln, Nebraska, we tell everyone how UCF brought us together.

When a boy asks a girl for her number in Anthropology Class … I had no expectations to become Indiana Jones and scour ancient sites for precious artifacts and outrun a treacherous boulder to escape with my life and a small gold monkey statue. I had to fulfill a general education requirement, and it sounded like an interesting course. I started school exhilarated and with a sense of freedom I never had before! I wanted to try new things, meet new people, and get the full college experience. So I enter Ron Wallace’s class as a bright-eyed and excited college student, ready to experience whatever life wanted to throw at me that summer. I had no idea the universe had worked out placing my future husband behind me, and giving us “a meet cute” that would change my life forever. I was discussing plans to go to a local bar with a friend, and that’s when he chimed in, “Hey, we are planning to go there too (no they weren’t by the way). Can I get your number?,” I thought, why not? So we meet up at the bar, share a kiss, and I call my mom at 3 a.m. (maybe a little tipsy) saying I met my future husband. It wasn’t rush to the altar by any means. We were inseparable from the day we met. “Dane and Kim” became a known entity among our friends and Greek brothers/sisters with Delta Upsilon and Alpha Xi Delta. You didn’t really get one without the other. But college is a crazy whirlwind of finding one’s self, experiencing the ups and downs of growing up, and trying to figure out your path. Sometimes it’s hard to do all that and become an independent person while in a serious relationship. We had our rough patches for sure, but something inside us never really allowed us to give up on each other. We knew inside this was a special love, and it was going to stand the test of time, no matter what obstacle course we put it through. Well, we survived graduation. Dane received his bachelor’s degree after studying mechanical engineering, and I earned a bachelor’s studying business and marketing. I also obtained my MBA in 2010. We struggled to find jobs as most people did during those years during the job market recession, but were able to find roles in companies that took us to two separate places: Minnesota and South Florida. Dane did six months job training during January in Minnesota (one of their coldest winters on record), and I headed to Fort Lauderdale to work at Motorola. We made it work, and eventually bought a house in Pompano Beach, Florida, got engaged, and had an amazing wedding in Marco Island, Florida. Now, we live in Dallas, Texas. We have careers we are proud of, a home we love, and most importantly a little boy who keeps us in stitches and another little boy expected to arrive any day now (I write this as I am 38 weeks pregnant). We are so blessed to still have our college pets, Chewie (a Lhasa apso) and Toulouse (a cat), in our lives and getting to experience our children. Looking back on it, UCF did more than just give me a degree — it gave me my whole life. I am so grateful for the friendships, the experiences, the obstacles I had to overcome, and for bringing Dane into my life. Black and gold truly runs through us, and we are so blessed to have had those experiences, and meet each other on that amazing campus. GO KNIGHTS!!!

Brian and I met through mutual friends in June 2009 at a local watering hole that is no longer. I was a sorority girl, Alpha Xi Delta, and he was a past UCF football player. We met 10 years ago at the end of Summer B and we’ve been together ever since! We got married in 2016, now live in Sarasota, Florida and have a beautiful baby boy, Charlie Timm (a future Knight). It’s been 10 years, and we’re going strong! Thank you UCF!

Stephen and I met in 2005 through a mutual friend, who was one of his fraternity brothers, and a lifelong friend of mine. Our friend set us up on a date for their fraternity’s semiformal on a chilly November night, and we developed an instant connection. Within a couple of weeks after our first date, we were officially a couple and have been together ever since. When we met, I was a freshman and he was a senior, so our time as active students together at UCF was limited. Stephen moved home to St. Petersburg to attend Stetson Law, but that didn’t stop him from driving back to UCF every weekend to visit me. After graduating in 2009, I hadn’t had my fill of the Knight life just yet, so I stayed for 2 more years to earn my Master’s degree in Communication. Stephen kept racking on the miles to be close to his favorite Knight. In 2012, I finally parted with my beloved Orlando and moved to St. Petersburg, where we live with our two dachshunds: Brighton and Chloe. We’ve been happily married for six years and together for almost 15! As alumni, we look forward to watching Knights football together every season and even took a road trip to the Peach Bowl in 2018. Our love story so far is full of UCF memories and we can’t wait to make more. Charge On!

We met our freshman summer at UCF. We started dating in November 2011 and both graduated from UCF. He was so supportive of me while I pursued my master’s at UCF CREOL. We have built a life together throughout college and now we are building our careers. He is a financial analyst and I am a systems engineer. We are getting married February 16, 2020! We continue to love being Knights and own season tickets for the football games!

It’s funny how destiny works. Nicholas and I both graduated in 2014. You may instantly think, “Oh, wow! They probably met during their time at UCF.” But that is not the case! Nicholas and I met in 2016 in West Palm Beach, Florida at a UCF Alumni Palm Beach Chapter event. That day we both decided to attend one of the chapter’s football watch parties at Bar Louie. We had an instant connection and both shared a big passion for our alma mater. We decided to exchange numbers to get to know each other more after the event was over. Ever since that day, we have been practically inseparable. We have been dating for two and a half years. We have many common interests, from running to going to Disney, but the most important one was our love for our alma mater. We never missed a watch party the season we met because we always looked forward to seeing one another and rooting for the best football team out there! The following season we even made it out to a couple of home games. After a year of friendship, we decided to officially become a couple. Our love for UCF led us to starting traditions together that we hope to someday pass along to our family. We got to attend the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl together and made many memories during our UCF adventures. We are elated that our love for UCF has brought us together because we truly bring the best out of each other. We are now both highly involved with our local UCF Alumni chapter and serve as board members. We love sharing the UCF spirit beyond our team at UCF.

My freshman year, I joined an intramural baseball team in hopes of meeting more people. Little did I know, that baseball team would lead me to my forever Knight. Domenic and I spent date nights at the Reflecting Pond, Light Up UCF and UCF football games. He graduated from Rosen, went on to work for a Hawaii cruise, and I continued working toward my degree at the UCF College of Nursing in Daytona Beach. Today, we are both proud alumknights, and I am thankful for UCF for bringing us together. Go Knights! Charge on!

Caitlyn and William met in spring 2012 through a physics lab. They dated long distance for three years while finishing up graduate school in different cities. Will proposed in 2018 and they recently celebrated their one-year anniversary on Jan. 6. Caitlyn and Will love returning to UCF for football every season and walking around the campus to see what is new.

We met in 2006 through working with the Office of Student Involvement, Residence Life and Greek Life, and became close friends. We finally started dating in 2008 and had our first kiss in front of Millican Hall. We have so many memories of what felt like years at camp since we both were involved and lived on campus. Now, we are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this year! Our second born (Collier Millican Faubion) is named after Dr. Millican, whom we both met numerous times, and whom my parents actually drove in the Homecoming parade back when it was on campus for a few short years.

Chris and I met through International Medical Outreach at UCF when we were both selected to participate in a medical volunteer trip to Peru during Spring Break 2010. There was an instant spark of friendship that grew over time as we both were also selected to do another volunteer trip to Paraguay during Summer Break 2010 and again to Haiti during Winter Break 2011. Friendship grew into something more as we ended up taking classes together and supporting each other as he became vice president of AMSA (American Medical Student Association) and I became president of IMO (International Medical Outreach) and continued trying to participate in my sorority Delta Delta Delta. Since our time at UCF, I began a career as a recruiter for one of the country’s top RPO companies, we got married in 2017, we moved to Miami so Chris could attend pharmacy school, rescued our sweet pup Murphy and recently moved back to Orlando (yay!) as Chris prepares to graduate with his Doctorate of Pharmacy. We’ve both experienced many ups and downs and changed career paths but a few things have remained constant: our love for each other, our Knights and helping people!

It was the second day of Fall 2015 classes at UCF. An eager freshman named Madison walked into her Introduction to Psychology class in Classroom Building I and sat at the front, ready to start one of her first-ever college classes. Next to her sat a friendly sophomore named Tarmo (TJ) Lievonen. The pair made introductory conversation and instantly clicked. They would go on to spend a whole semester sitting together in that psychology class, comparing notes, talking about homework, and not too soon after meeting, falling in love. As our love grew, so did our love of getting involved at UCF. Through a crazy chance of fate, we both wound up working in the Creative Services division of the Office of Student Involvement. I, Madison, as a communications intern and eventual student director of OSI Black & Gold Studios. TJ as a member and eventual student director of OSI Productions. Having these roles allowed us each to grow our skills in video, photography, social media and team management, as well as work alongside fellow OSI agencies and UCF departments in putting on major campus events. In addition, we each pursued degrees housed in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. TJ went for Radio and Television, while I pursued Communication and Conflict. Every class and professor equipped us to excel in our respective fields of video and social media marketing. TJ graduated first in Spring 2018, and I followed a year later in Spring 2019, both finding great jobs right after graduation in the South Florida area. Our story continued in August 2019, where we took the next step in our relationship and got engaged, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. We are currently in the process of planning our upcoming wedding, and will forever look fondly on the four years of memories UCF gave us. Then, now, and forever: Go Knights, Charge On!

Cody and I met my very first week of college in the summer of 2013. He had already been there a year. We met at Lake Claire during Cru’s welcome week. There was paddleboarding, barbecue, beach volleyball and more. Cody showed up with his two roommates, and they joined my side of the court. For some reason he was the only name I could not remember! It was a beautiful sunny day until all of a sudden it started pouring rain. Everyone ran in all directions leaving Lake Claire deserted. Two days later I was in a Zumba class (so I thought) until the instructor announced she was substituting for the instructor who was sick. She was a hip-hop instructor which was very different than Zumba. Halfway through the class I left and went to the volleyball courts right outside the door. I dropped my backpack and joined the group. It was then I saw Cody through the net and said, “Hey, didn’t I just meet you a couple days ago at Lake Claire?” We just got engaged at the same volleyball courts we exchanged names at Lake Claire on Jan. 1. Then we went to Light Up UCF and rode the Ferris wheel. The rest is history from there! We are hoping to get married in January 2021. We will forever be a Knight family. Five years later we still consider ourselves blessed to be Knights and to have found each other.

In February of 2019, I was at rehearsal for UCF’s annual production of “The Vagina Monologues.” The director had invited a few of her friends, who were in the UCF theatre program, to critique our acting. One of those friends was Ren Watson. The moment Ren walked in, it was impossible for me to keep from stealing glances at them. About halfway through the rehearsal, they introduced themselves to me and shook my hand, and a part of me wanted to believe Ren was crushing on me too. Their notes on the monologue (a story of a transgender woman’s experiences) were passionate and tinged with frustration and anger; Ren felt that as cisgender women so far removed from the experiences of gender dysphoria and violence against trans people, we were not doing the monologue justice. The story needed to be handled with more sensitivity, they argued. Their conviction was admirable. I wanted to thank them, but my confidence only exists on stage, so I resorted to Facebook instead of approaching in person. Fast forward a few weeks after my initial Facebook message. I finally got the guts to ask Ren out to coffee. We were both busy, but planned to pick a date in the future. By the time the night of “The Vagina Monologues” show came around, we still had not gone out. We spoke briefly after the show, but I never mentioned the date. I just couldn’t keep from glancing at them from across the room as I helped clean up afterward. When the date finally happened, I was so nervous, I ended up pretending I just wanted to be friends. I later told the truth over text, and the following weekend, they asked me out to the movies. That was in early April. We didn’t become an official couple until early June, but I can confidently say that I knew I would fall for them the moment I saw them.

It all started with a business Fraternity. Jason and I met during the initiation retreat of our Alpha Xi pledge class for Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. His smile and overall excitement for life and meeting new people drew me closer to him. During a professional tour at a local radio station, Jason dedicated Soulja Boy’s hit song “Kiss Me Thru The Phone” to me while he was surrounded by our pledge brothers and membership team. Our friends made sure to record it so I could hear it later. I almost died. No one had ever done anything like that for me, and it proved to me that he’s the absolute sweetest and knew what he wanted. We had our ups and downs like any couple does, but we found peace being with and around each other. Fast forward to September 2012, and we found ourselves in the Cayman Islands deciding to spend forever together. What better place to tie the knot than the place that brought us together? We got married on January 25, 2014 at the UCF Alumni Center surrounded by our closest friends and family. I love that we have somewhere we can come back to and feel the love we shared on campus.

In 2014, JP and I were both working in the Office of Student Involvement. He was a web developer for the design group and I was the student director of Knights of the Round Table. We both loved being involved and helping others get involved at UCF. It was an instant connection. We spent many of our nights walking around campus and talking about what we thought the future would hold. We had our first kiss next to Classroom Building I. Five years later, we still love going to UCF football games and tailgating. We recently celebrated meeting at UCF by having Knightro at our wedding.

We met during the Fall 2016 semester tailgating and have been inseparable ever since. We were introduced by a mutual friend and found out we were both engineering majors. Three years later we are married with two dogs and working in Savannah, Georgia.

It was 2000 and I was a fraternity boy, barely housebroken. She was a sorority girl, well heeled and full of life. I’ll never forget the first day I saw her. She was in the Student Union, eating a sensible salad from Wendy’s and sitting with friends. She caught my eye as I shifted through the room looking for familiar faces and a good place to sit and eat my $1.09 hamburger (UCF Wendy’s didn’t do the $0.99 menu). I sat at her table and after some idle chit-chat asked if I could walk her to class (I’d already missed mine). I said goodbye to her as she walked into her chemistry class and asked for a date. She gave me her number and said, “Sure.” First date was TGI Fridays. Like an amateur I ordered spaghetti and while fumbling through the date I realized that spaghetti was a bad choice. I hardly ate two bites and decided I would simply take it to the dorm later and gorge (I was really hungry). Several dates later she became my best friend. We exchanged love notes, sweet poetry on the windshields of our cars as we unexpectedly found ourselves parked near each other. We were never apart. I was very active at the university. SGA senator, UCF O-Team 2000, even ran for SGA VP on a ticket with some amazingly successful people. She was always by my side, cheering me on. She graduated on time and at the top of her class, and we married when she was 22 and I was 23. I went into the work force and slow rolled my degree, finishing it one class at a time when the online thing just came about. She always supported me and never waivered. We have been married 16 years. We have two beautiful children, 6 and 9 years old. We live in Palm Beach County and I have been an active part of the alumni chapter, even serving as a member at large on the board here. I own an insurance agency and have put my UCF degree to good work! I donate regularly to the alumni association, and my wife and I are fortunate that she has been home with the kiddos for the past nine years — the best job ever. I have so many stories to share, but I will leave my fellow Knights with this: There is no greater joy in life than meeting the person that will love and respect you forever, and it is especially beautiful when that person is the one that makes you realize you have done the same for them. I never would have graduated without my wife. She has encouraged me with love and compassion to be my best self, and here I am. GO KNIGHTS!

Our love story began in 2004. Our paths had briefly crossed a few times on campus, but it wasn’t until we were both selected for UCF’s 2004 Orientation Team that we really hit it off. We spent that entire summer together, ushering in thousands of students and teaching them why, like us, they should proudly bleed black and gold; but more than that, we discovered a connection that has been going strong for nearly 16 years. People often asked me why I decided to go to UCF, and in my heart of hearts, I truly believe it was to meet Will. Although accepted to a few different schools, UCF being one of them, my family didn’t have the means for me to make campus visits prior to making my decision. I was left with some pamphlets and the very scarce amount of information that was available online in the early 2000s to help me decide. After what felt like endless deliberation, I woke up one day with an overwhelming feeling of contentment about accepting my offer to UCF. And so I did — on a complete whim. And it remains one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. After graduating from UCF, our paths led us to a long-distance relationship for several years, but eventually led us to Tampa, Florida, where we planted our roots. Here, we adopted our sweet pup, Jackson; got engaged at Raymond James Stadium during the halftime show of the Bucs vs. Bills game in 2013; got married in 2015 (with black and gold as our wedding colors, of course!); and welcomed our beautiful daughter, Hazel, into the world in 2017. Through it all, UCF has been — and will always be — a common thread in the fabric of our life together. Thank you, UCF, for not only helping us reach for the stars, but allowing us the opportunity to find our one true north.

Nora and I met (obviously) at UCF during her last semester. She was taking her final classes from Rosen when I met her through some friends. I was in the middle of my core marketing classes at the College of Business. We kicked it off immediately and soon enough found our favorite date spot: UCF. Whether it was in the spring watching UCF baseball from the outfield or fall watching UCF football from our season ticket seats in section 133. While we were dating, some of our favorite road trips included the Michigan game when we drove a van 18 hours to the game, the Peach Bowl when we brought home the hardware and the NIT Tournament when we frolicked around New York City in our black-and-gold overalls. My favorite UCF memory was September 30, 2018: UCF vs. Memphis. I planned a huge tailgate before that monstrous game, which wasn’t out of the norm. We’ve created a memorable tailgating culture outside of Garage C called The MOAT — but that is beside the point. Before this particular game, I had something bigger in mind. While we were walking up IOA Plaza, I stopped in front of the Charging Knight and proposed to my dear Nora with all of our friends & family around. She said yes, and UCF went on to route Memphis 40-13. Our wedding was slated for November 16, 2019 — yes, a Saturday in the Fall. We picked this date out earlier in the year, so I had no clue if there was going to be a UCF game that day or not. What I call divine intervention (or multiple letters to Danny White…) UCF had a bye week that week. What are the odds? We had an amazing wedding, highlighted by a guest appearance by Knightro. It was the perfect knight. We are now Mr. and Mrs. Surrena, proud alumni of the University of Central Florida.

Our story begins at UCF (Go Knights! Charge On!). I guess you could call us college sweethearts! We met in, of all places, a physical science class. Unbeknownst to each other, we were both picked as study-group leaders for the course. I saw Allison stand up in the back of the class and was enamored. Six months later, I finally asked Allison out on our first date: Light Up UCF. We fell on the ice rink (several times) and for each other! It wasn’t long before Allison and I discovered our mutual love for music. In fact, we actually performed in the UCF Wind Ensemble together. But even more than music, we both LOVE Disney World. We’d love to travel the world, but for now we love eating and drinking around the world in one day. On June 28, 2019, while strolling down Park Avenue, I asked Allison to marry me. Of course, she said yes (more like yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!). On June 25, 2020, we’re getting married!

John and I first met on November 14, 2014 at MM 25 on Memory Mall. As a new graduate student, I found there weren’t many opportunities for social events, but since this was a Friday night game (and classes were released early) I decided to finally attend my first UCF football game. A mutual friend brought me to John’s tailgate. Being a natural Floridian, I should have been prepared for the warm days and cool evenings of November, but luckily for me John was chivalrous enough to lend me his sweatshirt during the (Floridian) cold night. Fast forward a few months and John and I finally reconnected at a Valentine’s Day event; by March we were officially dating! Over the next several years as I continued in my Ph.D. program and John graduated with his business degree, we continued to share our love for sports. John made sure I never missed another UCF home game (even during the 0-12 season)! While navigating internships, starting careers and finalizing dissertations, our love continued to flourish. On May 4th, 2018, after five long years of graduate school, I finally graduated with my doctorate degree. This was such a special day as both of our families were there to celebrate! As Dr. Szalma (my advisor) and I were walking out of the CFE arena, we saw a single pop-up tent on Memory Mall among the mass of people exiting the area. As we get closer, I noticed it was MY crazy family at this lone pop-up tent, complete with plastic glasses of champagne, in the exact spot where John and I first met! John proceeded to deliver a beautiful speech celebrating my accomplishments and at the end he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I (obviously) said yes! There could not have been a more meaningful proposal for the two of us, surrounded by our family at the same spot we first met almost four years prior! Now, we are still season ticket holders for UCF football, continually giving to the UCF community through service (30 Under 30; graduate student mentorship, etc.), and planning our wedding with a guest appearance from Knightro.

We met in 2011 on the practice field for Marching Knights. I thought he was in my spot, but he actually wasn’t. Whoops! We were best friends for years before we started dating in 2015. Fast forward to December 2015, when we got engaged at Disneyland and married that following August. After three awesome years of marriage, we just welcomed our first baby girl, Ellie, on Jan. 8.

Meredith was a senior at UCF when she saw Sean hanging out with a mutual friend at a soccer game. She knew that she saw something special in Sean and told the mutual friend about her crush. The friend set up a blind date for them and it was love at first sight! They have been together for four years and married for one! They bonded over their love of UCF and can’t wait to raise their kids to bleed black and gold!

During my super senior year (I had taken time off to attend boot camp after joining the U.S. Air Force Reserve) I was in my second home, the Health & Public Affairs building, for a homeland security class. It was the first day of class and I was speaking with a friend as the class filled in. A very handsome man sitting behind me interrupted when he heard me talk about another mutual friend. He introduced himself as Ben, and we all began to talk until class started. Once the class ended Ben told me he had to have knee surgery the following week and asked if I would take notes for him. I agreed. The following week I contacted him with the notes for class and he said he still wasn’t feeling well and asked for notes for the following week. I agreed — I mean knee surgery stinks — but when he asked again for the week following I knew he was just trying to avoid class. I told Ben not only was he going to class to take his own notes but be was also taking me to dinner for my troubles. I’m not sure what he was expecting but it surely wasn’t that answer. Nevertheless, he agreed and we went to dinner after the next class. That was our first date. Fast forward to graduation, and we both ended up in the same police academy and started applying for jobs afterward. We both decided it was up to fate to see where our relationship would go. Neither of us was interested in a long-distance relationship and jobs were scarce. Low and behold we were both hired by the same law enforcement agency! It’s been 11 years since that homeland security class and we’ve been married for eight wonderful years and have two awesome kids. UCF has brought me many special relationships but my husband is my favorite.

Chris and Allison didn’t meet until their senior years of college. They both were in the stands with their friends cheering on the UCF Knights as they played rival USF in 2013. It was a chilly night — for Florida standards — and Allison was sharing her blankets with Chris to help keep him warm. After the game, phone numbers were exchanged between the friend groups, but not chris and Allison. Allison decided to add Chris and his friends on Facebook to not seem too eager. Chris messaged Allison on Facebook and asked for her phone number, and the rest is history!