Alumni Share Their #UCFLoveStory2023

I met Hunter 7 years ago at the ATO house during a UCF football tailgate and we’ve been together ever since we met. I was a UCF Zeta Tau Alpha and Hunter was rushing Alpha Tau Omega at the time. We supported each other throughout our years at UCF and relocated to Atlanta, GA together after graduation. Hunter proposed in February ’21 and we recently got married this past October ’22. Our wedding included a lot of our UCF friends that have since turned into family. We’re so grateful for our college experience bringing us together & all the memories we hold onto from our time at UCF!

We met and began dating our freshman year (2015) living in Lake Claire. Bo asked me to be his girlfriend at the UCF fountain. We both graduated in 2019 and we’ve since gotten engaged and then married November 4th, 2022. Thanks UCF!

We met in 2014 in downtown Orlando. I had graduated from UCF in 2011 with a BS in health science and was planning on returning to school to pursue my doctorate in physical therapy. Adam had just returned home from the Army completing a tour in Afghanistan and was in the process of applying to UCF to finish his BS in finance. Our mutual love for all things UCF, especially UCF football was one of the many common interests we shared that brought us together. Adam graduated in 2017 and we got engaged that same year. We started planning our wedding and got married in October 2020. We recently welcomed the newest future Knight to our family, a little boy, in May 2022. We always reflect back at our times at UCF and although they were at different points in our life, it was our time living in Orlando and a chance meeting that brought us together. We can’t wait to raise our little boy as a UCF Knight fan and hopefully a future alumni too!

We both attended a campus ministry called RUF. We were friends for a couple of years and finally started dating just a few weeks before graduation. We still live in Central Florida and just celebrated 15 years of marriage!

We met while I was working at Marketplace on campus in 2013 & have been together ever since. We’re now married for going on 5 years, together for nearly 10, and have one little boy and a little girl on the way!

My roommates and I were decorating our dorm at Rosen. We were all in the window hanging decals when a group of guys in the pool made eye contact with the four girls in the window. Of course, we waved at them! We all wanted to meet people with it being all of our first years at Rosen. One of the pool boys slid us a note with his name. The two single girls at the time (me and Alexa) decided we would slide him a note back with our Snapchats. For the entirety of 2020 all Brendan and I ever did was Snapchat a few times asking about class stuff. I ended up meeting a girl, Melene, who was really good friends with Brendan. Over summer 2021, Melene and I moved in together when my roommates went home. Brendan was over all the time and I would see him in passing on my way to work at SeaWorld. Melene and I started to go out more and Brendan would always tag along. I moved back in with my original roommates during fall of 2021 when they came back up! We moved into room 402 and Brendan stayed in his same room 403. He would always invite me any time he had plans to go to Disney and we started talking more and more. He made his first move on me during HHN in 2021. We started hanging out whenever we were both off work and would stay up until 4am talking about whatever we wanted. After months of hanging out, he asked me on January 20, 2022 to be his girlfriend. It was extremely romantic in his car in the Rosen parking lot. We just hit one year and went on our first trip together to see a concert in NYC. Now, we’re both pursuing our masters degrees in Event Leadership at Rosen. We’re best friends, classmates, and theme park junkies all in one. I still have his note to this day and don’t ever plan on throwing it out.

Jessi and I first met back in 2011. I was getting ready to graduate and was the assistant general manager of a local nightclub, whereas Jessi was interviewing for a bartender position. Fast forward a bit Jessi and I began to date and moved back to New York in 2013 to further pursue our careers. We have been married 8 years and have two beautiful little girls, Cali (4) and Andi (2).

Found my #Knight in shining armor at UCF!

We both grew up in Tampa but didn’t meet until 2010 when a mutual friend brought me (Felicia) to one of Jose’s parties at the Lofts while we were both living in Orlando attending UCF.
We would run into each other here and there in Orlando and once we moved back to Tampa (even at a Tampa Bay UCF Alumni Chapter meetup). He asked to take me out on a date around 2015 but the time was not right. In November 2021, we ran into each other at a Surferblood show in Ybor (a band we both fell in love with while at UCF) and he told me that night that he would love the opportunity to take me out. It’s been the most amazing relationship ever since and we are now planning our future together.
We go to UCF games together and rep our school as much as we can. I love that we share that connection. I’m so glad we both decided to go to UCF, or we would not be where we are at today!

We met in 2009 when we were both in ROTC but graduated in different semesters. We both studied Legal studies, but we started talking classes together after we met in ROTC. We dated for a year and ended up getting married in 2011. We had ups and downs, but we stayed together. We have been married for 12 years and now we have a beautiful daughter. She is 7 years old, and our favorite time of the year is when we get to see UCF play football. Every time we go to Orlando to visit our families we find our way back to UCF.

We both are a part or the diversified Greek council. It was April 2015, and it was new member presentation for my organization. After I was revealed to the school and the show ended, my husband made his way to introduce himself. Little did he know that the week prior I saw him around campus and thought he was cute. We exchanged numbers that night and spent the whole summer going on dates and getting to know each other. We attended many UCF events together and each other’s graduations. Now we are happily married with 2 future Knights.

We were introduced in ’96 by mutual friends while we were all students at UCF. We fell in love and were married in ’99. Almost 24 years later, we are season ticket holders and wouldn’t miss a football game with our daughter or the chance to see our son play on the field with the Marching Knights! Go Knights…Charge on!

The first time I saw Taylor he was working at Marketplace. Since I lived in Apollo and had a meal plan, the pizza station where he worked was one I became quite familiar with in my first semester as a freshman. We hit it off one day while I waited for him to finish up a batch of cheesy bread. A few days later we ran into each other at the UCF Rec Center where I was practicing with my IM basketball team. He waited until after my practice and we played a game of 1:1. I let him win but he seems to remember it differently! We exchanged numbers and he invited me to a Halloween party that weekend where I met all his friends, which would later become my best friends as well. We were pretty much together all the time — attending basketball and football games, hanging out on campus and eventually moving into off-campus housing with our friends. We had the same graduation date and got to travel and experience college life together. After college we moved to Miami, got married and continued our education. Life would lead us to Seattle, WA for a job opportunity and we supported each other every step of the way. Once the pandemic hit, we found ourselves back in Florida. We welcomed our first child, who we promptly took back to UCF to see where her parents met and fell in love. Over 13 years later, UCF will always be a very special place for us, and we will continue to support and love it forever!

Kim and I met while serving on the Orientation Team together in 1987. We began dating that summer. As Kim approached graduation in spring of 1989, we knew that we were going to get married and I wanted to surprise her with the right moment to ask. I had served as student body president and became friends with Trevor Colbourn, so I knew he had a breakfast before the graduation ceremonies and went there to see him. I asked if he would hand Kim the engagement ring as she crossed the stage, which he agreed to do. Not one to miss a dramatic moment, Dr. Colbourn pulled Kim up to the podium as she walked on stage. Her immediate thought was that she was being recognized for something like “being the 50,000th graduate” or something like that. To her surprise, he pulled out the ring box and said, “Here is something extra special for you today…I believe its a ring.” Needless to say, the surprise worked. Kim and I were married March 10, 1990 and have lived an incredible life together ever since. We’ve been blessed with four wonderful children and built an incredible life in Central Florida, alongside of so many UCF friends and families. Our love story took a turn in 2019 when I was struck down by an acute aortic dissection (my aorta, the largest artery in the body, split open) which should have killed me. Kim is the hero of my story of survival and recovery as she got me to the emergency room in time for the surgeons to fix it (my heart is now comprised of 25% synthetic materials). I was in surgery for six hours, in a coma for a week (with no prognosis for a positive outcome), hospitalized for a month and out of work for six months to recover. She provided me the support, care, love and encouragement to find the fortitude to keep moving forward. Today we live each day as if it might be our last and participate in events that celebrate life, like Track Shack 5K events, together. We live with a renewed purpose to live people, be grateful, give generously and make a difference. So much of that foundation was set when we were students at UCF and worked for people like Jimmie Farrell, Bill Callerman, Pete Fisher, Vic Collazo and others who took a real interest in our lives.

We met our first year in 2003 in our 7:15am Public Relations class. He graciously shared his notes with me from class and we curated a wonderful friendship from that moment on. Post-graduation, we remained friends and began dating in 2013. We married in 2016 surrounded by friends (many UCF alum) and family.

We met our freshman year when Melissa became one of my best friends’ random roommates in Lake Claire. We were friends at first and then it turned into something more! This April marks 10 years of us being together.

Ryan and I met through a dating app in South Florida, where we both resided. We reunited back at UCF for fall session and studied countless hours at the library. He took me to my first Philadelphia Eagles game the day after graduation. We are now married and reside in Colorado Springs with our fur baby, Carson. We have met a strong UCF alumni group out in Colorado and always look forward to Game Day. I didn’t only graduate with my bachelor’s degree, but I also got my Mrs. degree! #GKCO

Brian and Alli were students at UCF when they were set up by a mutual friend. Now, 13 years later, they are happily married, with two children, several dogs, and hearts that still bleed black & gold!

Andrew and I met at Knights Circle. He was my downstairs neighbor, and we became friends immediately. The 2017 UCF vs USF game was our first true bonding moment — and after we knew we were meant to be more than friends. We started dating Spring 2018 and have been together since. We just got engaged at the Bounce House. UCF is forever a part of our love story.

My husband and I met in 2012 on Brevard Hall, we both lived on the 3rd floor. Starting in November/December of that year we really started to talk more and then around February we started dating. We hung out every day, went to football games together, and went to many other UCF events. At the end of both of our times at UCF we worked in the Office of First Year Experience. After he graduated I stayed at UCF for another year while he went to work in Tampa. When I graduated I also moved to Tampa, and we began our post-UCF lives together. In September of 2018 we got engaged and then in February of 2020 we got married at the Lowry Park Zoo. In August of 2021 we added to our family and had our baby girl Phoebe. I’m so glad we ended up on the same dorm floor our first year at UCF. We spent so much time on campus and participating in events and having fun at the school. I always think about our days at UCF and how I wish we could relive them because we had so much fun together.

Andrea and I met at a bench outside of the Student Union in Spring 2011, while tabling for the website launch of HerCampusUCF. We quickly became inseparable as we navigated the endless fun of being in Greek life, working at Lazy Moon, going to Knight Library, and tailgating for UCF football. It didn’t take long to realize we were the absolute best of friends! We’ve now been together for almost 13 years, married for almost 5, and we even started a comedy podcast about relationships and the IBD community. We are so thankful to UCF for bringing us together. Our love has only grown more since college, and the fun we have together has only continued!

What guy – a junior in college- comes over from next door to borrow a vacuum?!
*Note to self: you marry that guy! *

We met during our freshman year in 2016 at my Lake Claire dorm for a Super Bowl party we were hosting. She was trying to do calculus homework and I kept bugging her to have fun with me! Ever since that day we rarely ever spent a day apart, and went through the next 3 years in pretty much all the same classes in the College of business. We graduated a semester apart and decided we both wanted to stay in Orlando, and we remain loyal Knights fans! Last May I proposed at Lake Claire right across the street from where we met 6 years earlier, then got married in Colorado and had to rep our school for a picture during the special day!

Our story goes back quite a few years as we initially knew each other from middle school! Fast forward to starting college, we went to the same state college for our AA degree and had small interactions while working in financial aid as work-study student workers. After completing our AA, we independently chose which universities to continue our studies and happened to both end up at UCF starting Fall 2019. Even though it’s a large campus, we didn’t have the same majors, or live on campus, we bumped into each other all the time walking around campus! We ended up having our first date at Gringos Locos on campus and then continued to hang out occasionally. When spring semester came around, the pandemic hit, so I (Jess) decided to go stay with my parents in our hometown. But before I left, I went to Jeremiah’s apartment to say goodbye because I wasn’t sure when we’d see each other again; and while I was walking down the stairs leaving, he ran out of his apartment, shouted “wait” and came over to pick me up and kiss me. The rest is history! 🙂

Clay played basketball for UCF and I attended some of the games. He noticed me in the stands and asked a mutual friend to arrange a meeting at the Knights Out Pub. We met at Pub and immediately started dating. We were married in 1992. We are avid UCF sports fans and have seasons tickets. Cheering on the Knights is one of our favorite date nights.

JP and I met our senior year while working together in Student Government! JP is an international student from Brazil and I am from Saint Petersburg, Florida. If it weren’t for UCF we would never have crossed paths! Before transferring to UCF, JP played college soccer so he is very fast. I, on the other hand, have no athletic experience whatsoever. A major goal of mine was to complete a RunDisney race before I graduated from UCF. Last year, JP helped me train, and we both ran our first half-marathon! Now – about eight months since our college graduation, JP has started his own company, and I work for Walt Disney World! I am so thankful I met JP through UCF and am looking forward to finding new ways we can help each other to grow and tackle new experiences!

We met freshman year in the Nike dorm common room while studying, became the best of friends, and quickly fell head over heels for each other. College together was so much fun!! I swear he gets the credit for keeping me sane through both degrees! We got engaged in 2018 and married in 2019, and still live in Orlando and love UCF.

Phil and I met the first weekend of freshmen year in Fall 2012. My college friends and I were looking for a way to meet other freshmen and decided to advertise a movie night on the Class of 2016 Facebook group page. Phil showed up and we instantly hit it off as friends. On Valentine’s Day in 2013, Phil (with the help of a couple of our college friends) surprised me at my dorm room and asked me on a date, and then eventually to be his girlfriend. Since graduating, we’ve moved for the military twice, got married (2019) and rescued our two amazing dogs! Thank you, UCF, for bringing us together!

Brandon and I had mutual friends while we were in college but never crossed paths until 2016 when we matched on a dating app. Been going to UCF sporting events ever since!

We met through mutual friends in 2015. Angelina just started her undergraduate degree in Psychology, but Vincent was at a different university. Angelina and Vincent were close friends for about 2 years before they started dating. During this time, Vincent left school to work with a startup company. Angelina graduated with her undergrad degree in Psychology and Statistics and began her PhD program in clinical psychology in the Fall. Vincent then decided to return to school to finish his degree at UCF because he saw how much Angelina loved the school! So, both Vincent and Angelina were at UCF for several years together, cheering each other on every semester! Vincent recently graduated with his BS in Aerospace Engineering! Angelina likes to joke that Vincent is getting an honorary PhD for helping her throughout her program — one day Angelina will finish her PhD. The couple recently got engaged in Rockefeller Center in New York and will be married in Orlando on January 13, 2024.

Cameron and I met at the Citrus Bowl game vs Pitt in 2006! We didn’t know that our apartment units were in neighboring buildings at Alafaya Club (now Mercury 3100). We started dating, and Cam took an interest in anthropology (my major/degree) even though he was a Radio/Television major so we could take classes together. After graduation we moved to Los Angeles where Cam started working in television and I completed a master’s program. Cam is one of the biggest UCF fans I know — we became season ticket holders for UCF football while living in LA, frequently making red eye trips to games across country. We got married in 2016. We moved back to Florida in 2020 and now live in St. Pete, rarely missing a home game and traveling to at least one away game each season.

My husband and I met at Cru event at the Student Union in 2000. We were friends for a couple of years and then he finally asked me out by creating a little scavenger hunt on campus which concluded in front of the Reflecting Pond. After “making it official” we played air hockey at Wackadoos. We were married in 2005 and here we are almost 18 years later. I have worked at UCF as a graphic designer since 2004. Thankful for UCF and my team as I had a major cancer battle in 2021. They were supportive of me and my husband! Our relationship and our adventures together never would have happened if it hadn’t been for our local university.

We met at the bar Hot Shots on Alafaya Trail June 1990. We got married in March 1993 and we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. We have four children that are all adults; lost one as an infant, our youngest one is a junior at UCF. We are UCF Football and Basketball season ticket holders and have been for many years.

Chase and I met at Marching Knights Band Camp 2016. We grew together on UCF’s campus, hammocking and throwing frisbees in Memory Mall, meeting up in between classes to study in the Student Union, and exchanging enthusiasm rows away in between tunes on game day. Now we have moved up to Nashville together with our two kitties Fred and Binx, to grow more and more with the bonus of heckling the local Tennessee fans about having our old coach.

In May of 2017, TJ had just moved to DC from Sarasota. While looking for something to do, he happened upon a UCF Knight at the Ballpark starting in about an hour, so he headed to Nats Park. Sarah remembers talking with him and being impressed that he sought out the alumni group, but that was all for their first encounter. Several months later at UCF’s annual picnic, Sarah was fulfilling her duties as co-chair of the DC Alumni Chapter, by introducing people and forcing them to play lawn games. This led to what TJ so loving calls her conscription of himself, and 3 others (now groomsmen) into signing up for a fall bocce league in Old Town Alexandria. After almost 2 years, bocce friendships turned into actual friendships and the crew started to hangout outside of bocce and official UCF Events. In 2019, TJ gave out UCF Bocce Koozies he designed for the team. Sarah thought this was really impressive and thoughtful. Eventually, Sarah & TJ determined that what they had definitely went beyond friendship. Over the next 3 years Sarah and TJ served on the UCF alumni board together and traveled to many UCF games. On July 4, 2022, TJ took Sarah back to the bocce park where their friendship began and proposed. She of course said yes! They are incredibly grateful for UCF and the DC Alumni Chapter, for providing the opportunity to meet not only each other but their best friends, even beyond their years on campus.

This love story blossomed from UCF Greek life —“big” and “little” turned into girlfriend and boyfriend, husband and wife, and mom and dad in 2021. We met at a grab-a-date and became fast friends. Many memories of our time together include UCF tailgates at Memory Mall, cheering for the Knights at football games, or meeting up for lunch at the student union (Wackadoos specifically). We still love rooting on the Knights and look forward to bringing our son to a football game at the Bounce House!

Torrian and I met Freshman year in 2010 and been together ever since. Torrian played football (offensive line) and I ran track (400m). Torrian was a member of the Fiesta Bowl winning team and played in the NFL. I was a 4x conference champion in the 400m, UCF first Olympian, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame Oct 2021. Torrian and I met in Tower 4 dorms when he was visiting his high school friend (my roommate). I opened the door for him, and he says “it was love at first sight” but it was not for me. After that day Torrian made his way to our room, we were on the 4th floor, and he was on the 5th. The moment I knew Torrian was the one was when he waited outside my class with an umbrella on a rainy day in Florida. After that the rest was history. On 4/3/21 Torrian and I got married in Orlando to be in the city where we met.

I met Alec on Feb 7, 2016, at an off-campus Super Bowl party. While we didn’t immediately start dating, our friendship took off like a rocket. From that day on I had a UCF Football partner, beer pong partner and study buddy. It took over 2 years for us to take our friendship to the next level. Everything changed when we went to the Peach Bowl game in 2018, and on April 21, 2018, during the unveiling of the National Championship banner we made our relationship official. We’ve been dating for almost 5 years, moved to LA and have 2 cats together. I have never been happier; he is truly my best friend, and I can’t imagine my life without him or UCF.

In April 2019, Caleb and I both went to Universal Knights. We met in line at the Hulk ride after our mutual friends decided to meet up. We talked in line and there was a spark, but we didn’t exchange numbers or plan to see each other again. A week later, we went on our first date at Menchi’s and talked outside for hours about life. We’ve spent almost every day together since. Almost 4 years later, we now live together and are planning on getting engaged in the next year or two. I work as a nurse at ORMC, and he works as an EMT in the emergency room at ORMC. He plans on applying for PA school this spring. I will forever be grateful that UCF brought me my best friend and soulmate.

Christina and Jamal’s UCF love story began as student employees at the UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center in 2015. Jamal worked upstairs for Annual Giving and Philanthropic Engagement, and Christina worked downstairs as a receptionist for the Alumni Center & Operations. It’s funny because we didn’t talk much in passing, even though we saw each other daily. I would always see Christina as I started and ended my day. Still, I was afraid to approach Christina because I didn’t think she would be interested. I later discovered that Christina liked me also, and we didn’t realize that until we both attended another UCF alum’s graduation party, and the rest is history. We started dating in early January and made it official on January 14, 2016. Throughout our relationship, we traveled during college getting to know each other’s irks and passions. We continued our relationship through us both graduating from UCF as I earned a Bachelor’s in Human Communications with a minor in Nonprofit Management and a Master’s in Public Administration. Christina earned her Bachelor’s in Legal Studies and her Law degree from FSU. Christina and I got engaged on July 29, 2019, and tied the knot on October 9, 2021. We welcomed our first child together on June 27, 2022, named Josiah Martin Baskin. We love and adore our son, who will be a Knight one day. I am currently a Neighborhood Coordinator for the City of St. Petersburg. Christina is an Assistant State Attorney for the State of Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit. We continue to reside in Florida and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together.