Alumni Share Their #UCFLoveStory2021

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible”. This is how I felt on the evening of Thursday, March 20th, 2014. My (now) fiancée and I met at UCF in the atrium of the engineering building in March of 2014. I saw her sitting at a table studying (as engineering students do) and was captivated by her beauty. I decided I had to join her and get to know her. I made some small talk about where she was from (Lebanon) and where I was from (Germany). She was studying civil engineering and I was studying mechanical engineering. She had to leave for her evening class and I thought I would not get to see such a beautiful and interesting person again. I decided to follow her when I remembered my roommate, who was studying civil engineering, also had an evening class. I called him and said I was going to join him since that was my only chance to see Zeina again. When I walked into class I saw her and my heart was filled with joy. I sat through the entire class and waited until it was over. When Zeina got up and saw me she was surprised but asked me to walk with her to her car. I had to return to the engineering building and she offered to drop me off. When we arrived there she said a ridiculously silly pickup line from the series Friends, which went like “If you like my name, you should hear my number”. I could see her face blush as she realized the corniness of what she said. My heart was beating and I was thrilled to hear her number. That was the beginning of how we met, and for a long time Zeina thought it was fate that I went to class with my roommate that evening. Later, I had told her that I intentionally went to her class to see her. I will always be thankful to UCF for giving me the opportunity to find someone so special and amazing that I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with her.

I first met Lauryn when we both enrolled in UCF’s Visual Language curriculum at the downtown campus in 2010. She was a little shy and reserved during classes, but extremely cute. Naturally, I wanted to get to know her a bit more, so I invited her to join us in a group project. We started calling and texting one another about homework assignments, but the topic would quickly change to likes/dislikes, nerdy debates on Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings, and general conversation about family and friends. As our friendship grew, so did my feelings for her and I eventually built up the courage to kiss her (ok, she actually kissed me first). We started dating officially after that and our first date was at a UCF football game, where we beat the UAB Blazers 42-7. After graduating in 2012, we started to spend our lives together; traveling, adopting a cat, and building up our careers. UCF always had a special place in our hearts, and I wanted to incorporate our alma mater into our love story one more time. She had warned me that if I ever proposed to her, that it should never be in a public place as that was “too embarrassing”. So, being the extra one in the relationship, I thought what better place to propose that where we had our first date. But in order to meet her specifications, I made sure that we were the only ones in the stadium at the time. On November 6, 2016, I walked Lauryn out on that field, got down on one knee, and proposed to the love of my life. We were married a year later on November 13, 2017 and UCF continues to play a prominent role in our lives to this day.

Our journey began in 1988. My now husband, Robert was working at the local Walmart & going to UCF, and I was new to the area & started a new job at Walmart, so I had no idea what UCF was. What started out as a friendship, blossomed into a relationship, that blossomed into a marriage that occurred at The Wild Pizza, now known as Ferrell Commons. As of today we have been together a little over 32 years, & married 30 years this coming May! We brought up three wonderful children, had pets, worked for different companies, moved a total of 16 times together, bought 2 homes, weathered illnesses for both of us, have relished in being grandparents, both went back to school, and all of this has made our bond stronger!

We met in Fall 2015 at the University of Central Florida (Go Knights! Charge On!). We bonded over our love for climbing and spent many evenings at the RWC climbing tower. After a couple years as friends and climbing buddies we started dating. We were there for each other as we figured out how to transition from college to the real world. Through all the highs and lows, one thing stayed constant: our love and support for each other. We’ve had great times with the most amazing friends, from shooting zombies to theme park hopping and everything in between. We’ve collected a lot of costumes… And hats… We got married in January 2021 in Kissimmee! We are so blessed to celebrate the start of the next chapter in our life together and so grateful to UCF for bringing us together.

Trey and I are both proud alumni of UCF. While we didn’t attend UCF at the same time, the beginnings of our relationship was based around UCF Football. The first time he asked me to hang out was to watch UCF vs. Mizzou in September of 2012. Our first photo together was taken at the Beef O Brady’s Bowl where UCF beat Ball State. You could say UCF Football is part of the foundation of our relationship! Trey had never attended a UCF football game while a student and I was a student season ticket holder for all my 4 years at UCF. Trey’s the only one in his family to attend UCF, while both my parents and my brother are all alumni. Trey is the casual fan, where as I bleed black and gold! We are kind of opposites in a way – he’s the quiet calm to my loud excitement. I’d like to think I’ve had a small influence over him becoming a more vocal fan. Over the years, we’ve always made it to at least one home game, even becoming season ticket holders in 2016 (a wedding gift to ourselves) . 2020 was the first year we didn’t make it to a home game – but we had a good reason for that! We welcomed Everlie in September and we’re so excited to raise the next generation of UCF Knights!!
Candice Torres and Tony Cummings
We met briefly in November 2016 at a UCF tailgate. However, it was not until January 2018, when Tony was browsing UCF tags on Instagram that he came across Candice tagging the UCF young alumni page that they became Facebook friends. They finally met up for a movie in June 2018 and then a friendship bloomed for a year with their shared interests and passions for tailgating, fine dining and the beach. Tony invited Candice to Miami for Memorial Day Weekend and they began dating. A year and a half later, after trips, concerts, football games, pool parties, Universal pass holder trips, Tony proposed marriage to Candice in Winter Park, outside the restaurant where they had their first official romantic date. We are so grateful for our alma mater connecting us. Our passion for being Knights drives our passion for all campus events, especially the football games. We had our engagement photoshoot on campus, because its our favorite place.

I lived in Tivoli during my sophomore and junior years of college. My roommates and I immediately became friends with the three cute boys who lived next store. One day they had a party and invited their old Tivoli neighbors. The first time I saw Daniel, I turned to my roommate and said “that is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen”. Well I was way too intimated to talk to him and ended up dating one of the neighbors. However, Daniel and I became friends. Through the years, Daniel and I became closer and closer. We went to UCF football games, beer tasting events, Lake Eola events, etc. We stayed friends through my failed marriage and his failed relationships. Eventually we couldn’t deny our attraction and we started dating. From the moment we kissed, we knew that was it. We married in 2014, had our first son in 2015 and our second son in 2019. Both boys enjoy cheering on the Knights with us and our 5 year old says he can’t wait to go to college since that’s where mommy and daddy met. He also says college is where you play lots of video games and he can’t wait for that too.

I am from Vienna, Austria, and went to UCF in fall 2018 for my exchange semester. During my very first class, I met John since we were in the same team. We quickly started to hang out outside of class as well and I also introduced him to all my exchange friends. We basically spent every day together during my time in the US, so it was very hard when I had to go back home to Austria at the end of December 2018. However, we decided to do our best to keep the relationship going. So from December 2018 until July 2020, we were both in our respective countries finishing up our degrees. Every 2-3 months, either one of us would visit the other. It was hard, but we managed it. In July 2020, John moved to Vienna for me. So those nearly 2 years of long-distance really paid off and we’re finally living our lives together in Austria.

We met back in Fall 2013. Our sorority and fraternity were paired together for Homecoming at UCF. During that time, our paths just didn’t cross. Two years later, we worked in the same hospital system and we reached out to each other. With our love of sports, we’ve become football season ticket holders and traveled to many bowl games. On 10/10/20 we got married and exited to zombie nation with black & gold pom poms as Mr. & Mrs. Pompos.

My boyfriend and I met during our last year at school going for the same degree. We were even able to graduate together in December 2016 and walked across the stage one after the other. This year, we’ve been together 5 years and are both working in the environmental field doing what we love.

A Long Time Ago, on a Campus Far Far Away… In 2000, at age 28, my (now) husband Ed decided to return to college and get his degree. He chose UCF. In the same year, at age 21, I chose to pursue my college education at UCF. On the very first day, in the very first class, we saw each other for the first time. As he will tell you, I entered the class wearing a long skirt with flowers and a maroon tank top. He knew right away that he wanted to talk to me. I was looking for a place to sit and saw him sitting at the far end of the classroom. He was so handsome I couldn’t even look directly at him without blushing. I took a quick seat near the door and glanced over the rest of my classmates. Every time my eyes would get to where he was sitting I would look up and over him. Toward the end of class, our professor assigned a brief writing assignment. Ed devised a plan to quickly finish the assignment and then wait until I got up to turn mine in and he would do the same, giving him the opportunity to strike up a conversation. Little did he know, I loved writing and was very fast. I finished before him and left the classroom. Ed thought he had missed his chance and decided to wait and try again another day. As chance would have it, when I left the building I exited out the wrong door and got turned around. I ended up near a parking lot. I was unfamiliar with the campus and it took me a few moments to get my bearings. When I finally figured out where I needed to go, I began walking back toward the center of campus. Ed exited the building where we had class together and began walking toward his car. He suddenly realized that I was walking toward him and he decided it was his chance. He stopped to introduce himself. I was stunned. I couldn’t believe this tall, handsome man would even notice me. He said, “You’re Tanya, right?” I nodded my head and said, “You’re Ed?” He smiled, we spoke for a few moments and then went on our way. The rest is history. We just celebrated 20 years together. We got married in 2008 and now live in New York with our daughter.

James and I met while we were living in New Jersey. I had no intentions on dating him at the time, but he wanted to take me to The Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. After that we dated for a year. I decided to transfer from a community college to Florida International University while James decided he wanted to enlist in the army, but we remained together. 2 years of long distance had gone by but during that, time we were able to visit each other once every couple of months. In 2018 I took a break from FIU, married James, and moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I worked full-time for a year to save as much money as I could in order to return and finish my undergraduate degree. In 2019 James finished up his military contract and we both agreed that going to college is one of our goals. Thankfully we chose UCF! This semester marks our official one year of being Knights together and we are ready to Charge On until the end.

My husband Matt and I met playing soccer on the UCF intramural turf fields! We were both undergrads and had a group of mutual friends that played pick-up soccer every Sunday. We met there and soon began hanging out at tailgates and other gatherings. I graduated in the Spring of 2014 and not long after we began officially dating. Matt was still completing his undergrad degree and then graduated in 2015. In 2016 we moved in together and lived in east Orlando very close to UCF because it was the happy medium of his commute to Kennedy Space Center and mine to Celebration. It turned out to be the perfect location because Matt was then accepted to an engineering masters program at UCF. Matt always said he would not ask me to marry him until he finished his masters degree, which he was set to do in December, 2018. However, in May 2018 we took a trip to Spain and he surprised me by asking me to marry him on a beautiful hillside overlooking all of Toledo, Spain. I said yes!! We were happily engaged when he graduated from UCF with his masters in December 2018. Two undergraduate degrees and one masters degree and a beautiful love story all built by UCF! We are now happily married, about 1.5 years, and live in Colorado with our two fur babies!

We met in an undergraduate creative writing class, then again the next semester in Shakespeare. We got together that summer! We ended up taking a few more classes together and graduated together in 2004. Now we’re coming up on 18 years together! If he hadn’t changed majors and if I hadn’t had a rough start, we never would have overlapped, even though we grew up only 2 hours from each other. (picture is us in London, taken by my daughter, in 2013).

Trevor Colaneri and Emma Blanchard

We met in freshman year and started dating in sophomore year. We are both mechanical engineers and graduated in fall 2015 with our bachelor’s. I stayed a little longer and graduated with my masters in mechanical engineering in spring of 2017. We both got jobs at Pratt and Whitney (West Palm Beach, FL) later in 2017. We were engaged December 2020.

Matthew Ersek’s and my love story is one of my favorites because it started without us even really looking for a life partner. By the chance of luck we were paired together for a group exam in one of our classes. We were already well aware of the other because we sat next to each other everyday. When I ask Matthew why he sat next to me his response was always “he chose to sit next to the prettiest girl in class”. For over the next year, we slowly became more acquainted but the sealing of our entire love story was meeting on the eve of one of UCF’s football games. We both discovered our similar love for football, especially the UCF Knights. From then on, we vowed to watch every UCF Knight game that we could together. We became the best of friends that happened to be from the same major and have the same love for sports. Now, we have both graduated from UCF, have full-time jobs and live together in a different city. We owe it is all to UCF’s matchmaking skills by one of our professors. The real next step is for us to rescue a puppy! Thank you UCF. Charge On!!

David and Freyza are UCF alumni and educators based in Central Florida and are getting married next month. David is an instructor in the UCF History Department and Freyza teaches third grade in the Seminole County School System. While working on his Master’s Degree in Public History, David worked as an intern and guide at the UCF Public History Center in Sanford, while Freyza regularly brought her students to the museum on field trips. After the Public History Center closed, it later became Venue 1902 at Preservation Hall. When it came time to decide on where to exchange their vows, David and Freyza could not think of a better place or way to celebrate their love and connection to the UCF community.

Nick and I went to high school together but rarely spoke. The first semester at UCF, we met again and by chance were both studying Political Science and had the same gap between classes. Nick, a mutual friend, and I, went to Dunkin every day during our gap. Nick and I then began going to the football games together and events like Light Up UCF and soon, everything we did, we did together. We began dating the spring semester of our first year (2018) and have since then, graduated, moved to Milwaukee and are both attending law school at Marquette University Law School. Thanks to UCF, Dunkin and UCF football, Nick and I are on this incredible journey together!

We met at a UCF club in 2018, started dating shortly after. Katie is a nursing student and I am a film student. we were engaged in October of 2019 and then married in August of 2020. Now we are loving life and preparing to graduate at the end of this spring semester!

Kurt and I met in the fall of 1999 at his fraternity’s formal. I had just recently broken up with my boyfriend, so I was a little down when my friend Fraser asked me to attend the Fall Formal of the fraternity he was rushing. I was a little reluctant but thought I needed some fun. I borrowed my friend’s prom dress since I didn’t have anything formal to wear. Fraser picked me up and we stopped by the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house (located off campus) before heading to the formal so we could take some photos and meet everyone. It was such a blur for me as I didn’t know anyone. Once we were in the ballroom of the hotel I sat with some of Fraser’s friends and looked across the dance floor. That is when I noticed Kurt the first time. He was standing and laughing with some of the guys. I thought he was cute and had this great smile, but went back to my group. Fraser took me home and that was that. Or so I thought. Several months later I attended a party that someone in the fraternity was having. I was the DD and I was sitting on this old sofa, watching my friends across the room and Kurt sat down next to me and said a great joke that I cannot repeat. He made me laugh so hard. I liked him right away. We talked for a while and it was amazing how much we had in common. We were both born outside of Pittsburgh. We both moved to South Florida around the same time. We went to rival high schools. We even had the same dentist growing up. It was amazing! We were so different but so similar. Our first date, we went to the movies and saw “The Perfect Storm”. That was all. No dinner. Just a movie. He drove me back to my apartment. We were both so nervous! But after he drove away I remember thinking, “This could be it”. And it was. We moved in together a year later. Kurt graduated from UCF in 2001 and took a job at the Bradenton Herald in 2002. I moved in with a friend until I graduated in 2003 and also moved to Bradenton. We got engaged at the Gaylord Palms on New Years in 2005. He was so cute about it. We went to see ICE and then after we got our hot chocolate sat on a bench in the Fort area. He put the ring in this little niche. I was so excited! We got married at the Bellagio in Vegas in 2007. Liam was born in 2009. Kyle in 2012. In 2016 we moved to Ocala to be closer to family. Its been 20 years since we started dating and we are still so in love. He is my best friend. And he still makes me laugh.

William and Caitlyn met spring 2012 during Caitlyn’s senior year. They were in 3 classes together and started dating that summer. Caitlyn moved to Jacksonville for graduate school but she and William decided to continue their relationship long distance. It was a tough year but it became even harder when William moved to Ft. Lauderdale the next year for graduate school. After several years of driving back and forth 5 hours to see each other, William proposed! They got married in 2019 and had their first child October 2020.

We met in an education class the summer of 2014. I had just changed my major to education and Marcus was one of only a few men in the class. Being that we were both in the minority of students in the class hoping to teach high school, we were placed in the same group for our final project. After a semester of silly and awkward interactions, Marcus asked me out on the last day of class. We were married 3 years later and have since welcomed a baby boy into our family.

The knight it all began!

We met our first semester during summer session of 2006 in the Hercules dorms. My roommate was friends with his new roommates. We became fast friends and even shared a kiss prior to the summer ending but decided to stay friends. Our junior year I had a last minute housing crisis and we ended up as roommates. 6 months later we were together. We went to every UCF Football and had the best tailgates! We even went to Memphis to witness UCF beating Georgia! After 2 years we ended up going our separate ways but 5 years later we reconnected and ended up getting married 2/07/2020 in Orlando. We are still obsessed with UCF football and are season ticket holders! MM37 Forever!

Adam and I started dating our senior year of high school and decided to attend UCF together in 2005. We defied the odds and stayed together our entire time at UCF and got married in Feb 2012. Of course our wedding colors were black and gold! Fast forward to 2017, we welcomed our son Zackary Knight Ostrowsky into the world, in Washington DC. We knew the pride, intelligence, strength and honor that came with such a name, and thought it was absolutely perfect! Zackary Knight continues to represent our UCF Knights every chance he gets, and thanks to Florida Prepaid- we all already know where his 2nd home will be come 2035! Go Knights!!

I was the sports anchor and she was the news anchor for the student-run ‘UCF News’ tv show. We were both kind of seeing other people, but the day I met her I told my best friend on the football team I was going to marry her. That was in 1985. We’ve been married 30 years with 4 kids and 2 grandkids! #BuiltByUCF

We both joined the Marching Knights in 2015. David was a trumpet player and Taylor was a majorette. The first year, they knew of each other but never really talked. 2016 rolled around and David was helping out the majorettes and that’s when they really started talking. David commented on one of Taylor’s tweets and they started messaging. Shortly after, they started dating and anything to do with Marching Knights was 10x better. We graduated together (a day apart) in 2019. We have been together for over 4 years with 2 dogs and are in the process of buying a house in Orlando!

My *now* husband and I met at UCF during our summer B semester… at none other than Knight Library (the original one)! You know how people always say not to get in a relationship during your freshman year??? Well, we didn’t listen lol! Now here we are 9 crazy years, 4 animals, and 2 weddings later (thanks covid)… inseparable. Safe to say we made the right decision!

We met during the beginning of our sophomore year of our mechanical engineering bachelor’s degrees. We initially met in our thermodynamics course. We had mutual study friends so we would all go and study at AKS together. We didn’t become a (thermo) couple until junior year and after a couple months of dating, Wesley proposed and Ashley said yes. The rest is history still in the making.

It all began February 20th, 1987. I attended the SAE “Button Down Boxer Shorts” party in the old student center (now Ferrell Commons) with some of my ZTA sisters. Jim filled my dance card and walked me to my car. That began a lifetime romance that is still charging on as we celebrate 30 years of marriage in January of 2021! The Curtis Clan have always been Knight fans, tailgating and cheering on our beloved Knights…3 generations of graduates now???! So many happy memories, but our love story is the sweetest!

25 years ago in January of 1996, I began dating a fellow UCF SGA senator at a Super Bowl social between his fraternity (PIKE) and my sorority (Kappa Delta). Four and half years later we were married. We have enjoyed taking our 3 children to many UCF football games and showing them around campus. We are overjoyed that our oldest daughter Lauren was just accepted into the UCF Class of 2025. We are forever grateful to the University of Central Florida for playing such an important role in creating our amazing family.

We met at cheerleading tryouts for UCF in May 2009. Luckily, we both made the team and got to know each other. Although we try to avoid dating team members, there was no denying how we felt for each other. We cheered together at UCF for 3 years and even got to be partners for football games for 1 year. 10 years later we got married. We still support our Knights as much as we can from afar in Norfolk, VA with our local alumni chapter. Knights for life! #GKCO

Met in college, he helped me pass computer science, I beat him to graduation because he had to work, and now we live in Houston with 3 adorable girls/UCF cheerleaders.

We met for the first time during undergrad while attending UCF. However, our goals of becoming a medical doctor and nurse practitioner were in our sights and timing just wasn’t perfect… yet. A few years later, Ali was almost finished with her doctorates and I had matched at University of Miami for neurology residency. It was finally the right time. We started dating and the first time we said “I love you” was while celebrating a UCF football win. Today, we both live in Miami and we’re engaged to be married in 2022. Life is great for these two Knights and we couldn’t be more thankful to UCF for making it happen.

I was single and loaded my information on a dating app and five minutes later I got a message saying “I’m a Knight too!” Four days later we were inseparable. UCF brought us together and remains an important part of our relationship. She is in the stands beside me cheering with me for our Knights and happy to be on the journey with me. We have our brick at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center and we hope Knightro will be a guest of honor at the wedding. Yes, we just got engaged on January 9th!

My husband and I bleed black and gold. From our proposal in Cuba (pictures with the flag), to our wedding with Knightro, a UCF groom’s cake, cornhole, & even our vows, we live with UCF around us. Our office, Christmas tree, & 80% of our clothes are from the bookstore. We love the atmosphere of UCF football games, which my husband missed 2 in his entire 8 years of being season ticket holder – one for our wedding and one for his best man’s wedding). From the players, to the coaches, to the event staff, we feel at home. While we didn’t meet at UCF, when we reconnected after high school I was just about to start my 2nd year at UCF to finish my bachelors and he had just graduated with his degree. He showed me around campus before class started and told stories about his student-athlete experience. While being a student at UCF, my friends and I started the only marketing organization on campus (which is still running). We (my husband and I) take pride knowing we both left a legacy at UCF. Go Knights, Charge On!

Aaron and I met on campus my freshman year, his junior year, through Cru. We hit it off quickly and got married in 2019 while we were both still in school. We have a deep love for UCF sports and have been on many dates to football, basketball, and baseball games. We live in Melbourne now but still make it over when we can. Go Knights, Charge On forever!

Jason and Steph started dating in high school and attended UCF for undergrad. During their time as UCF students, Jason and Steph became involved with many campus activities and both worked for UCF housing as RAs. They both graduated undergrad in 2013 and Steph continued her education at UCF and became a double alumknight with a Masters in Higher Education Policy Studies in 2015, while Jason received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from UF in 2017. Throughout the years they have enjoyed attending UCF games, Steph became involved with the UCF Young Alumni council, and they rescued their fur baby who they named Knightro! They married in 2018 and are now building their dream home in Orlando! Jason is a Clinical Pharmacy Manager with Advent Health and Steph works at UCF in Student Care Services. They both attribute their personal growth and success to the opportunities UCF provided them and they couldn’t have been happier to go through their college years together at UCF! Charge on!

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 and 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!

As my husband would tell it 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 Bachelors in Nursing. Since then we have had 4 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 Masters degree from UCF. We are proud tailgating parents and will do anything to watch the UCF Knights football team play. 3 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 reflection 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 80’s it was an orange grove and we ran along a dirt made 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 Dejavu 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.

Matt was my dyad on the 1995 O-Team. We met working at the Alafaya Chili’s. I was on the 94 and 95 O-Teams, was President Pro Tempore of SGA, and was a Tri Delta. Matt was a Sigma Chi. We married in 2000. He is my best friend. We’ve traveled to 3 continents, made two beautiful kids, and have attended more UCF football games than we can count. We are proud UCF alumni and love that Orlando is our home.

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 they 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 they were crushing on me too. Their notes on the monologue I shared with a few other actors (a story of a transgender woman’s experiences) was a passionate speech tinged with frustration and anger, because 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 them. Fast forward a few weeks after my initial Facebook message. I finally got the guts to ask them 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 afterwards. 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.

My husband and I met in high school and started dating our freshman year at UCF. He had liked me for a while, but it wasn’t until college where he got brave enough to ask me out. We dated through our college years and got married soon after graduation. We’ve had 3 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 first met on Tinder where 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 2 years when to my surprise, he proposed to me in front of the Tree of Life in 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.

Abby and Daniel met while both attending UCF back in 2013. They met for the very first time at Knight Library… the college bar, not the actual UCF Library. As a firsthand witness and fellow bridesmaid stated, “She channeled all the confidence in the room (and all the alcohol she consumed) and walked right up to him and said ‘You’re cute!’ and the rest was history”. Abby and Daniel went on to experience an action-packed love story throughout their undergrad years at UCF. Together they attended UCF Football tailgates and UCF Rugby socials. Abby never missed a chance to support Daniel on the rugby team – cheering him and the team on to a national championship in 2014. Daniel supported Abby just as much if not more throughout her demanding biology major – bringing her coffee and checking on her during the hours on end she spent studying in the Library. By 2016 they were both graduated and onto the next chapters in their life. Abby went on to graduate from optometry school in South Florida, while Daniel gained experience working in the engineering field. They even spent months committed to each other long distance due to work and medical externships. While other couples in their friend group came and went, Abby and Daniel’s love never faded, only growing stronger. UCF brought them together and on November 21, 2020 the two FINALLY said their ‘I Do’s’. It was the most romantic and intimate lakeside ceremony, with many lifelong friends and fellow UCF Knights in attendance. Anyone who knows Abby and Daniel Irion is so excited for their extremely bright future together with their two dogs, Piper and Olly, and the highly anticipated future Knights likely to be added in the future.