Alumni Share Their #UCFLoveStory2024

I met Maria through my sister; they had gone to the same high school. I found out that Maria had been accepted at UCF, where I had started the year before. We talked a lot about what UCF was like and about her upcoming orientation. We dated throughout our time at UCF, and we could always be seen holding hands walking to classes. We got married the week before graduation in December 1982.

During my freshman year I was a writer for HerCampus Magazine and had a column called “Campus Cutie.” When I was attending Spirit Splash 2013, I saw Brandon walking with a pizza in hand and shirtless. I pointed him out to my friend and said how cute he was. She suggested I ask him to be featured in my Campus Cutie column, which previously I had only asked friends to be in. When I hesitated out of nerves, my friend physically pushed me into him! At that point I had no excuse but to ask, so we followed each other on Facebook, where I sent him the article questions. These questions included: boxers or briefs, describe your perfect date, favorite song, single or taken, what traits attract you to a girl, etc. He answered my questions, sent me the picture I needed for the article and before I left the chat he asked if I was in a relationship. I said no, he said he found me attractive, so I responded, “If you want to try out your perfect date, text me sometime” and gave him my number. He kept me waiting two days before he texted me lol Because you know, that was the “thing to do.” We scheduled our date, I got so nervous I almost didn’t show up, but did and we spent HOURS talking and just clicked! Come to find out we were both twins too! Brandon made it so easy to fall in love with him. We enjoyed three years at UCF together before he graduated the year before me. He moved back to Jacksonville, got a job. I graduated, moved home to Tampa, before landing a job as a reporter in Augusta, Ga. We did long distance for a little over six years, but only got stronger. I’m so happy to say we are no longer long distance, officially been together for 10 years now and in June will be celebrating year two of marriage! He’s my best friend, the love of my life and I couldn’t be more grateful for UCF and the infamous Spirit Splash for bringing us together! Not to mention we both caught a duck that year and every year after that we went together and caught all but one duck out of my 4 years! He’s definitely the Knightro to my Glycerin and my forever campus cutie!♥️🥰

Malik and I met at the Recreation and Wellness Center where we both worked in different areas of the gym.

Tyler and I had the same major, so we spent a majority of our time at UCF in the same building, but never as classmates. Passing each other likes ships in the night, we took all the same classes – in a different order. I was halfway through our senior year when we met, and Tyler was still a junior. We finally crossed paths at Tonight’s the Knight, a UCF RTV program that I was taking as my final Capstone Project. Tyler was volunteering for the show togain experience on the equipment outside of class. If Tyler had not gone above and beyond in his classes, we may never have noticed one another. In the middle of the semester, I went to North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline being built above a Native American reservation. When I told the crew that I was going, and asked if anyone would consider donating, Tyler was the only one who did so. I thought that was very sweet and thought of Tyler often while on the reservation. When I got back to UCF after three weeks, Tyler officially asked me out. It was the last episode of Tonight’s the Knight, so this was his final chance. I held back, because I would be graduating and leaving UCF, but we did have a spark between us that we couldn’t ignore. When we had our first kiss, we felt fireworks (that only happens in movies, right?). So, we took a chance. I worked for WUCF for an extra year while Tyler finished his degree, and then we moved to Atlanta. We had been together for eight years, and I told Tyler that we were coming up on being together for a decade. He knew I wanted to get married before that anniversary. He joked that he had two more years to go, and I slapped him playfully. The next day, Tyler took me to my favorite lunch spot in Orlando – Pom Pom’s Tea and Sandwicheria. We decided to go back to campus “for nostalgia’s sake.” Tyler took me to Lake Claire (the site of one of our first dates) and proposed to me on the sand. Our best friend from UCF was filming the whole thing – she cried…a lot. It was a great day, and it was a great place for us to start our next chapter together as fiancés.

We met during freshman year thanks to UCF’s meal plan! We became best friends, hanging out all the time. We lived near each other in the Libra and Lake Clair communities. We joined fraternities and sororities that hung out together. We fell in love, and now we have three beautiful daughters.

Todd and I both attended Boone High School in Orlando but we didn’t meet until FTU. He is a Sigma Chi, and I am a Tri Delta. Being Greek on a small commuter campus was one of the few ways to have a social life in college back then. As the end of my junior year approached, I needed a date to Delta weekend. I had met this nice, cute guy at a Sigma Chi party, and worked up the nerve to ask him to be my date. He said yes. And before our date weekend arrived, he asked me to the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi Ball. We were married in 1979, and 45 years later, here we are, still married and living in Orlando. We have had football and basketball season tickets since the very beginning. We stood thru the never-ending rainstorm this past fall as we defeated Oklahoma State, were seated four rows behind our UCF basketball team as we defeated Kansas and watched the birth of the fronds.

Alex and I met in 2019 in the UCF Symphony Orchestra. He was the cute tuba player, and I played viola. I was constantly admiring him from my spot in the orchestra. Our love for making music connected us as good friends first. As I was preparing my graduate school applications, I asked him to tutor me in math for my GRE, knowing that as an engineering major, he was good at it. As a nursing major myself, I wasn’t half bad, but I really just wanted to spend more time with him. As the pandemic became a part of our everyday lives, we never got to take that final bow as UCF orchestra musicians, but that’s OK. What sprouted from that first semester in orchestra together is a love that has lasted more than three years. Alex proposed to me last October, and we are excited to be getting married next year, with many of our orchestra friends who are also set to play at our wedding.

On February 27, 2024, Kevin and I will celebrate our 25^th anniversary. It’s been a wild ride since he popped the question on a plane full of UCF players, including Daunte and Coach K. We might have moved out west since then, but our hearts are still with UCF football. We can’t help but laugh when we think back to that flight – me, totally clueless, and Kevin sweating bullets before asking the big question on his knee in the middle of the aisle. Now, every UCF game we watch brings a bit of that thrill back. Sure, we miss the live games and the Florida humidity (not really), but we’ve got our memories and a heck of a story to tell. Here’s to 25 years of marriage, unexpected in-flight proposals, and keeping up with UCF football from a time zone away.

Alexandra and I knew each other socially but began spending more and more time together in the Office of Student Involvement in 2007. I was the director of Homecoming and Alexandra was the director of Volunteer UCF. OSI is where we fell in love. We began dating in 2008, married in 2012, and our two sons were born 2016 and 2017.

We met at the UCF library during a Bible study! Gabe walked in with a couple mutual friends, and I was instantly interested in getting to know who he was. I offered him a doughnut to break the ice. Gabe politely rejected the doughnut just because it had sprinkles on it. Looking past our differences about sprinkles, we started talking/dating, and he soon transferred to UCF. He was there for my graduation in 2018, and when I attended his graduation in 2022, he secretly switched the graduation party I planned to an engagement party. He proposed right after his graduation after eight years of dating! We’ve been happily married for six months and have two cute pups together!

Steven and I met at a UCF football game played in the Citrus Bowl back in the fall of 1995. His fraternity (Lambda Chi Alpha) and my sorority (Alpha Xi Delta) were paired to attend the game together. We met in the stands cheering on our beloved Knights. We started dating soon after that and married in the spring of 2000. XOXOXOXO

We met at UCF when Johnathan walked into an interview at the undergraduate admissions office. He was interviewing to become a campus ambassador/tour guide; I was already in that role and would be interviewing him. He got the job, and I trained him all summer and became great friends. After months of friendship and being tour guides together, Johnathan revealed his feelings and the rest fell into place! We always thank the campus ambassador program for helping us find each other.

Steve and I met on the first day of class in 1969. Our dates included 25-cent FTU movies, and serving banquets as Disney host and hostess to Disney investors while the park was under construction. We got paid $15 a banquet, plus a free meal. We lived in the dorms, and Steve was active in Lambda Chi, and I was an SAE little sister. I graduated in June ’73 with a bachelor’s in inhalation therapy, and we were married a week later on June 16. Steve transferred to Georgia Tech and graduated with a bachelor’s in industrial engineering. We celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary last year and attended the Gasparilla Bowl in December. We compromised by attending the UCF tailgate party and we sat in the Georgia Tech section. The friendships we made at FTU date back to 1969, and we make several trips each year from Savannah to reconnect with these life-long friends!

Monisha and I met in Dr. Glenn Cunningham’s lab during a summer research scholarship in 1992. At the time, I was already working in the lab breeding houseflies (aka maggots). I’m certain that was my hook – who can resist a man who makes flies? We quickly got to know each other as we had the same sense of humor and work ethic. I knew it was real when Monisha tripped and fell walking from the chemistry building to the old biology and my first instinct was not laughter but concern. We married in 1995 and love our Knight connection!

Jerry and I started UCF at the same time in 2005 and saw each other almost every day on the shuttle from Pegasus Landing to main campus. We didn’t speak to each other until February 2006, when we were both selected as resident assistants for UCF Housing and Residence life. During RA training, we were required to attend a CPR/First Aid class on campus late in the evening. The class ended after the shuttle to Pegasus Landing had stopped running. I approached Jerry and asked him if he could give me a ride home. He agreed, and suggested we grab some dinner before heading back. We had our first date at Taco Bell, and the rest is history. We married in 2012 and have three children. We live in Apopka, and I am currently completing my doctoral studies in the public affairs PhD program here at UCF.

Brandon and I initially met in a young adults’ college Bible study in 2017. It wasn’t until years later when my friends from church encouraged me to “go say hi to the guy working the cameras.” I went back to church that day – attending two services and trying to get up the courage to say hi to Brandon, the camera guy. We passed each other in the hall, had the most awkward “hello,” and then went our separate ways. I didn’t want that to be our only interaction, so I went back to the “guy working the cameras,” and the rest is history! We got married August 11, 2023, with a heat index of 112 degrees at UCF!

Alan and I met during our freshman orientation, Summer 2017. We knew of each other and had talked a little in the Class of ‘21 group chat but had no intentions of anything else. At the end of orientation weekend, I was walking out and walked right by Alan (pure coincidence). I decided to say hi, hoping to make a new friend. We ended up exchanging social media accounts and that started our friendship. After talking, we realized we lived right across from each other in different buildings in the Hercules community. I also didn’t have a mini fridge yet, so I had nowhere to store my food, but he kindly offered to store it in his. I didn’t expect to stay friends, but we kept talking and hanging out every day just because of my food situation and we hit it off! I didn’t realize I liked him until one day during a night out, we went for a walk around the Academic Village when he finally asked to kiss me, and I said yes. We graduated in 2021 and have been together for almost seven years now. Thanks UCF!!!

UCF is where our love story begins in 2017. I was at the end of my freshman year, and Jordan was at the end of his junior year. We started to become friends by going to the UCF gym, meeting up in the student union, and using pocket points to get free treats. We then started dating which led to going to a lot of UCF football games, in which the team went undefeated that year! This led to us and some of our friends sleeping outside of the stadium to get Peach Bowl tickets. That is when I knew that if we were both crazy enough to sleep outside for a college football game, this relationship would last! We got the tickets and drove to Georgia to win the Peach Bowl, which is still our favorite UCF memory. Jordan graduated in 2018, and we took fountain photos and him stepping on the seal in the Student Union. I graduated with my bachelor’s in 2019 then my master’s in 2020. Now Jordan and I watch the UCF games on TV, with goals for going back to a game in person. We wear UCF apparel, have a UCF license plate & flag, and look back on the fun times at UCF. By us being at UCF it led to us dating, then to marriage, with one of us being a U.S Navy Doctor, and one of us having their LCSW. Thanks, UCF for bringing us together and setting us up for success.

I met Nate on the very first day of my freshman year in 2014. My best friend and I had signed up for the Pegasus Palooza Scavenger Hung at the Reflecting Pond, and he was randomly put on our team. A few weeks later, my best friend and I went to the RWC and jokingly said that maybe we would run into the “guy from the Scavenger Hunt,” because he had mentioned that sometimes he went rock climbing. As soon as we walked in, Nate walked in right after us. That day, my best friend told me that I would end up dating him because it was too much of a coincidence. Those “coincidences” kept happening all around campus. We would randomly run into each other in the Student Union between classes or in the parking garage on our way home. At the time, UCF had about 60,000 students, so I thought it was pretty impressive how many times we happened to stumble upon each other! After a couple months of chance meetings, we eventually started dating. UCF is such a fundamental part of our love story, so much so that nine years we took our engagement photos on the steps of the Reflecting Pond in the exact spot we met. We are getting married this year on April 27, and I will always be grateful for the time I spent at UCF and for the huge role it played in helping me find the love of my life!

Debanjana and I met through Facebook. I was a doctoral student in 2018, and she was a transfer student from FSU. She had posted on social media looking for recommendations for housing in the UCF-Alafaya area. I decided to help her by promptly sliding into her DMs. I suggested that we meet over coffee once she had moved to the area. Our first date was at a coffee shop on University Blvd. For our second date, she invited me to her home where she cooked me dinner. We continued strong throughout the pandemic, traveling the US and India whenever we could. Our evenings were spent with coffee in hand, at the Lake Claire jetty, reassuring each other through tough times, and planning the uncertain future. After my graduation, I popped the question. Last year, I was back at UCF to celebrate her grad walk, and to attend various alumni functions. We visited all the spots, reminiscing, and we hope to return soon.

Phil and I met freshman year, through the BEST friend group. We didn’t start dating until junior year (ten years ago). After that, we were inseparable! We spent our last two years at UCF going to football games, studying together and being with friends. Then, we moved to Tampa for our “adult jobs.” Next, we got our fur babies Callie and Grey. We moved to South Florida and got married in 2020. Just recently we had Addisyn, the newest Knight!

Richard and I didn’t meet at UCF, but we are so happy to have met through the UCF Alumni group in Austin, TX. We signed up to be on the events committee and had one “official” meeting to discuss events. After 20 minutes, it turned into a date, and five-and-a-half years later, we are engaged to be married! We are so glad that UCF Alumni brought us together.

Ben and I met at a UCF football game. Not only did we win the game, but we won each other’s hearts. That very night, I called my friend from the parking garage to tell her I had met “the one.” Ben and I supported each other throughout various challenges and our degrees, graduating a year apart. Even though I commuted over an hour to school, we made it work. Our favorite dates consisted of UCF events such as concert nights, football and basketball games, Winter Wonderland, etc. After graduation, our careers in engineering and medicine took us even further apart, and we are currently in a long-distance relationship. The love we discovered as students has only grown stronger, and you can still find us cheering on the Knights all over the country.

In March 2012, it was my freshman year and Nick’s junior year. Nick was a member of the FIJI fraternity, and I was in ADPi. A fellow ADPi sister – Kristine – was dating Nick’s then-roommate, fraternity brother, and best friend from high school. Kristine asked me to go with another brother as a friend – well, who doesn’t like a trip to the beach with a bunch of your friends for a whole weekend? Nick initially wasn’t planning to go but signed up to attend last-minute by being another brother’s plus-one. I’ll never forget chatting him up on the beach, throwing the football around, and stealing his horrendous jacket (which he still owns) in the freezing ballroom during dinner.

As Kristine and Nick had quite a few classes together, I would tag along for group study sessions. In those study times, group hangouts at the Edge apartment (and too many drinks at Devany’s), a great friendship blossomed between Nick and me. Over the years between that meeting on the beach, and finally being together beginning April 2020, we never lost touch completely.

This story is so perfectly summarized by the saying “right person, wrong time,” but we sure are glad the right time finally came (ten years later). Which leads us to our epic proposal…

Anyone that knows Nick knows he isn’t much of a planner. Many wedding details had already begun to be set and I began making jokes like “honestly you can just hand me the ring now,” and things like that. Anyone that knows me knows patience isn’t one of my strengths.

However, Nick really planned and really surprised me! Just before we went to Hawaii for Nick’s 30th birthday, we began planning a trip to DC for the UCF vs Navy game with a group of my friends from the Student Union. When discussing our plans for tailgate, we eventually decided to get tickets for the official UCF Alumni tailgate. Nick reached out to Caitlin ’15 and Skuba ’14 ’16 and immediately went to work in planning. This was the first time we all got to see Terry Mohajir speak in person, so everyone got excited and wanted to go watch up close (or so they said). I was barely listening and just scrolling on my phone until Ashley Marley, a UCF employee, wrapped up her closing announcements with, “I’d like to welcome my friend Nick on the stage.” I looked at Nick, very confused and asked, “Where are you going?”

It wasn’t until Nick said, “I’d like to invite all of you to be a part of very important moment of my life,” that I realized what was happening. Since UCF, football, and tailgating have always been such an important part of our relationship, the proposal couldn’t have been any more perfect! We’ll celebrate our two-year anniversary in April 2024.

Conner and I met on the very first day of UCF orientation. His mother was standing in line for a free t-shirt next to my mother. Our mothers started talking to each other and realized that their children would be best friends. And we immediately were! We spent our first year at UCF hanging out with friends, going to football games, and exploring campus. During our second year, we made it official and started dating. We continued dating after graduation and survived long distance while Conner went through medical school. We finally got married in May 2023!

Nickolas and I had mutual friends but had never met each other until one night at Knight’s Pub. Once we started talking to each other, we realized that we kind of knew each other through our friends. We’ve been dating ever since 2021 and we just graduated together!

Myles and I met at UCF in 2010 when we were both working at Knightro’s. He was working the omelet station right next o me while I was making sandwiches. We hit it off right away and were always stationed next to each other after that. We got engaged in 2013 and married in 2015. We became foster parents and have adopted our wonderful daughter. Last year, we found out I was expecting, and we welcomed our son into the world.

Jaquan and I met in 2011 – but it almost didn’t happen. I was starting my graduate degree and was new to the campus. I got on the UCF shuttle to go home for the day. As the driver started to leave, all of us on the bus told him to wait because a young man was running to catch the shuttle. The driver waited, and once the young man got on the bus, we locked our eyes on each other, and the rest is history. We got married in 2014, and are celebrating our tenth anniversary this September!! Go Knights!

Ronnie and I met the first day of Summer B in 2019 through mutual friends. We have been together ever since. It’s ironic that we were from the same hometown but never knew each other till we got to UCF. I am so grateful to have gone through my undergrad with Ronnie by my side.

We love our story because the first time we were introduced, we were standing in the middle of both of our favorite type of field. Not one with flowers but footballs.

Fun fact: Sean had a great nickname in college that all his teammates and friends called him. He went by “Firehawk,” and I’m pretty sure I called him that for a long while before I knew his actual name. Sean and I both grew up playing football as our favorite sport. Sean started as a wee little one at the age of 5 and I honestly wasn’t that far behind when playing with my brother and neighbors. It wasn’t long after we met that we also became teammates, playing on a co-ed team at UCF. Go Knights! I may be biased but really, ask anyone, Sean is one of the best football players I’ve ever seen play, besides me, of course. Watching him run and catch is a sight of beauty. I know, I know I’m corny, but it’s literally poetic. So, we played together, became inseparable friends, we went to nationals together (third in the nation – Woo!) and then we fell head over heels for each other. Dating since 2015, married in 2022 and loving living our life with our puppy, Bear! Go Knights! Check out his amazing proposal https://youtu.be/Xdvt5yFmRFk?si=i12vG6FIRDitRLD6

Ben and I were both Marching Knights for two seasons, beginning in 2016. While in Atlanta for the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl, we had our first date at the Georgia aquarium. After UCF won the Peach Bowl, Ben asked me to be his girlfriend. We got engaged in 2022 and were married last year at Leu Gardens in Orlando. We are football season pass holders, and I have worked at UCF for six years. We are both forever grateful to UCF for its 2017 undefeated season, and for the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl for bringing us together!

Dallas and I were introduced to each other by a mutual friend while attending a church near UCF. Our first date was at Tijuana Flats on University. Dallas was on UCF’s baseball team from 2017-19 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. I received a bachelor’s degree in health services administration. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time cheering on the Knights at the baseball field, we got married in 2021, and just had our first child last year. We love our connection to UCF!

Brandon and I met in the Reflection Pond at Spirit Splash 2002 during my sophomore year. I was in Pi Beta Phi and he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Our sorority and his fraternity were participating in homecoming together and we had mutual friends. When we met, it was an instant connection. We started dating a week later and have been married now for 15 years. We graduated in 2005, and Brandon also got his master’s degree in 2007. We have two daughters and live in Winter Garden.

Carlos and I met at the Catholic Campus Ministry RSO at UCF in 2018 at an event at Northview. Both nerds, we bonded through our shared love for New Wave, Star Wars and our faith. We became fast friends and grew closer over tons of study sessions at the Student Union. When the pandemic hit, Carlos was there to cheer me on as I walked across my living room to graduate with my degree in English and Political Science. I’ve also rooted for him as he progressed through his BS-to-MS Computer Science program. In 2022, Carlos took me by surprise on my birthday by popping the question, and we got married on September 23, 2023, in the City Beautiful — at St. James Cathedral. Our UCF campus minister, Rev. Josh Swallows, officiated our wedding Mass, and we absolutely partied to Zombie Nation at our reception!

Mason and I met in 2021 at the library, when I was working my ass off trying to pass Organic Chemistry 2 as a biology student, and he was starting his senior design project as an engineering student. Our dates mostly consisted of living in the library and All Knights Study since school was our priority. Occasionally, we went to Gringos in-between classes, or scooted around campus after studying for hours. Now, we live together with two cats, Mocci and Sake, and a dog named Zeus.

Gabriel and I met at a campus Greek life event and started dating in 2017. We are each other’s first relationship and have been together more than six years and are raising our puppy, Bentley, together.

Quyen and I met in the Apollo dorms on the first day of our freshman year in 2012. We were next door neighbors — when she walked over to introduce herself, it was love at first sight. That fall, through football games and campus activities, we formed a love that has now stood the test of time. Over a decade later, we are happily married and expecting our first little Knight in April! Charging on through life, together, one step at a time.

Chris and I met at UCF in 2018 and have been inseparable since! We have been together for six years, and got married a little over a year ago, and it was the best day of our lives! We have two fur babies and a human baby on the way. Our son already has so many UCF outfits to wear to tailgates and football games. We can’t wait to show him his future school! GKCO!

Kaley and I met while working at Chili’s in Oviedo to get through school. I will never forget when I finally got the nerve to ask her out, our first date, and how much fun we had tailgating in the fall of 2005. We and a large group of our friends would go to every game, tailgate, and make our way into the stadium to watch our bigtime football Coach O’Leary try to snap our losing streak. We stormed the field together when we finally won, and attended the conference championship game against Tulsa to finish the season. Later that year, I convinced my freshman year roommate to help me propose to her on the Lion King stage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Those memories – and the time I spent with my wife – are what I am most fond of when I look back at my journey at UCF. Now, after 16 years of marriage, we are a family of five with season tickets, and now our kids can get a glimpse of the magic we felt that year together. We are a #UCFamily!!!

I joined the Chick-fil-A team on campus when I arrived at UCF. We all became good friends, but it wasn’t until Spring 2013 when I noticed and finally met Zach. We started hanging out with mutual CFA friends, and started dating in 2014. We got married in June 2019.

Kyle and I met in the HPA I building through a mutual friend our sophomore year, and he invited me to lunch with them at Gringos Locos. And the rest is history!

Anthony and I were neighbors at Knights Circle, and he let me borrow his hammer so we could hang decorations. Nine years later, married with a dog and one child (so far!). Thank you, UCF, for putting him in the wrong apartment building and for placing him in a different class time that what he registered for so he could be in the same class as my roommate and best friend! Best “how we met” story, ever!

As I was walking through Memory Mall during a tailgate in 2019, one of my co-workers called me over to a tent. There she introduced me to John. We were both shy at first, but we knew we were attracted to each other. We harmlessly flirted with each other for years, but nothing ever came of it. In 2021, we again connected at Memory Mall, and it has been history ever since. We are season ticket holders, attend almost every UCF event, and love our bond over our hometown team. Go Knights and go us!

Raymond and I met on September 11 a few years ago when we were both hammocking on Memory Mall. We instantly felt a connection and hung out later that night. Since that first meeting, we spent many days and nights at Lake Claire and on library study dates. This campus will always hold a very special place in our hearts!

Tyler and I met on the first night of dorm move-in our freshman year at UCF. He lived at Lake Claire and I lived at Nike. We had created a friend group that first night with others living at Lake Claire. We all became close, and Tyler and I had psychology class together. A few months later, we started dating, and have been together ever since – four years!

I met Nicole in 2021 in a group chat for our immunology class. I was talking with some other classmates, and Nicole asked me about my study techniques. Since at the time, she was new and there were no face-to-face classes, I asked her if she wanted to study with me. We developed a lasting friendship, with Nicole becoming my best friend and, later, my girlfriend. We have been dating for two years and three months, studying for the MCAT to apply for medical school, and planning a beautiful life and future together.

To celebrate a new hostess job I had just been hired for, my girlfriends and I went out. In May 2005, that was as good a reason as any to go to our favorite UCF bar – Pounders. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a good dancer, but somehow, a really cute guy named Angelo didn’t seem to mind. We danced to every classic 2005 song on the Pounders playlist. At the end of the night, I gave him my number. When I started my new job the next day, Angelo walked by the hostess stand. Apparently, he worked there as a server, and his coworker told him to go check out the new hostess as “she is just your type.” Today, 18 years later, we are married and have a 10-year-old daughter. We are proud UCF alumni, attend UCF football games, and don’t dance.

Kim and I met in August 2018 in a math class on campus. It was love at first sight! When we met at Starbucks on Memory Mall, we sat and talked for what seemed like hours. It was as if we had been friends our whole lives. We spent nearly every day together. We’d study together, go shopping together, and get ice cream together across from the reflecting pond. We got Disney passes and enjoyed spending time at the parks together. In our spare time on campus, we enjoyed being outside, attending events, and living the campus life. We’d go on walks playing Pokémon GO. We’d check out new things that opened or new things being built. We walked to class together. When it was time to move out of the dorms that summer, we moved in together. We sat next to each other at graduation in 2022. It wasn’t an easy journey, but we made it through because we had each other. This past Christmas, I proposed to Kim, and she said yes. We both knew from the moment we met on campus that day that we wanted to be together long-term. We are so excited to finally be engaged and are beginning to plan our wedding.

I met Javier when I was a freshman working at an off-campus dorm. We went to Spirit Splash and to Symphony Under the Stars, and Javier also helped me get to my classes so that my anxiety didn’t ruin my GPA. After Javier graduated, we stayed together, but I transferred to Texas Tech University, where I will be graduating this year! I would never have made it this far in my life without UCF, and even though I might not be a traditional student, Once a Knight, Always a Knight. Plus, the Big 12 feels much homier now!

Max and I went to the same high school where we were percussionists in the band. When I got into UCF, I was thinking about joining the Marching Knights, and Max was the one who told me about his experience and how he had made so many friends in the band at UCF. He came and watched me at my first game in 2016, and the rest is history. We are now married and season ticket holders, attending games and supporting the Marching Knights Drumline!

Joey and I met in a human resources management class at Rosen College in 2017. We became friends and joined the same student organization. We began dating in 2019 and graduated later that year. In 2022, we got married, and we both currently work for the same hotel company and are mentors to UCF Rosen students.

I met Sebastian while I was waiting for a friend to finish his final exam. I made a brief trip to the bathroom, and when I came out, I was concerned that I had missed my friend. Sebastian looked like he had been studying for a while, so I asked him if he had seen my friend. After having some small talk, we ended up exchanging information and celebrating being done with our finals. Little did I know that, years later, we would be living together with our dog. P.S. That day was Sebastian’s final exam before his graduation, and if I hadn’t approached him that day, we might have never met.

Reid and I started at UCF in the same semester and program. We randomly sat next to each other at UCF graduation and couldn’t stop talking. We have been together for two years and have made incredible memories since. We are eternally grateful to UCF for bringing us together!

Kelly and I met on UCF’s campus in 1981, fell in love, and got married on March 30, 1984. This year, we will celebrate our 40^th anniversary.

It was very much a “meet cute” for Allison and me. I delivered a gift to her from her Greek big sister during Clue Week. We kept running into each other at Greek functions over the next few months. At Homecoming, she was partnered up with my fraternity’s little brother. And finally, at Homecoming, we got together and have been that way ever since!

Maitland and I met at the Student Union as we were waiting in line for food. We instantly connected, and I invited her to the homecoming concert. When she told me she couldn’t make it, I got her number and promised I’d send her some videos from it, and I did! She has since told me that was the moment that she knew she wanted to be together. Since then, she’s been by my side for graduation and for my first job out of college. I can’t wait to see her graduate in Spring 2024!

Andrew and I were both pre-med, and met at UCF rushing for Phi Delta Epsilon, a medical fraternity. We’ve been together through medical school and are now residents in general surgery and OBGYN. We got engaged last year at Lake Eola after visiting UCF and taking a trip down memory lane.

We met at UCF in 2019 and have attended countless basketball and football games supporting our Knights. We both now live and work in Orlando and we just purchased our first home!

I met my future wife, Pat, at a Sigma Chi casino party. She had just broken up with her longtime boyfriend, but her sorority sister (TriDelta) roommate talked her into coming to the party. At the end of the night, I asked her for her phone number, and she told me to look it up (this was back when we had dorm phone books). Well, I wasn’t very happy with that response, I thought it was a brush off. A couple days later, my fraternity brothers and I were watching Star Trek, and my brother Mike came in and told me I had a phone call on his bedroom phone. I thought that was very odd. When I picked up the phone, the person on the other end thought that I had called them. It was Pat! Mike had fooled us both. We will celebrate our 48^th anniversary this coming June.

We always studied together and loved to hit Gringo’s as a quick date between classes.

We met at Alpha Kappa Psi in 1998. This year we are celebrating our 23^rd anniversary.

My husband, Blake, and I met at a UCF football game through a mutual friend. It was UCF v. UAB, and of course, we won! After that game, we continued hanging out as friends, attending many more football games and other on-campus activities. Right before he graduated, we decided to make it official and began dating. We moved away for a while, but have been back in Orlando for the past five years with our two beautiful girls and our dog, Knightro! We enjoy bringing our older daughter to all the home games, and our favorite tradition is finding our brick (a wedding present to my husband) at the stadium. Go Knights, Charge On!

I met Monica’s identical twin sister, Cortney, at UCF in undergrad while in Alpha Kappa Psi, a co-ed professional business fraternity. I moved to Atlanta shortly after graduation, and in 2018, was on Bumble, a matchmaking site. I saw someone I recognized from UCF on the site; I thought it was Cortney, but it was Monica. One of Monica’s profile pictures was of the two of them. I sent a message through the site and never heard back; then I reached out to Cortney and told her I had messaged Monica on Bumble. If Monica wasn’t ready for anything serious, at least she would have another friend in Atlanta. We ended up going on a date, and Monica told me that she wasn’t really looking to date. She was focusing on her PhD at Emory. I respected this. She reached out to me a few months later … and the rest is history! We have been living together since 2020, and as season ticket holders, have been to multiple football games. Go Knights, Charge On from the “ATL Knight Knest!”

We had our wedding reception at the UCF Alumni Center in 2017. We are about to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary and still reflect on the wonderful memories that we cherish from our special day!

Joseph and I met through UCF’s Greek life; Joseph was in KYX, and I was in the group’s sister sorority, Theta Alpha. We began dating in 2020, got engaged on Sept. 29, 2023, and are getting married this December. Both of us are huge UCF fans, love going to football games, and plan to be active alumni forever!

Donald and I met while completing our major in radio and television broadcast. We did the school newscast together every Friday. Our friendship slowly and naturally developed into more. We have been together for 16 years, married for nearly nine, and have survived all of life’s ups and downs together! When you meet your person that young, some people may think that you will grow apart as you mature. I think we’ve grown into and around each other over the last 16 years like roots on a tree. We’re not the same people we were when we met, but our love is stronger and more rooted than ever before.

Mathew and I met through a mutual friend at the Knight’s Pub (RIP) in 2017. Mathew was smitten right away, but since I was unsure of my post-college plans, I was a little hesitant. After nine months of pursuit, I finally came around. In the more than six years that we’ve been together, we’ve watched each other graduate, traveled in and out of the country, and, of course, have cheered on the Knights in countless football games. In February 2023, we got married, and made our first big purchase as a married couple: UCF season football tickets. GKCO!

Gus and I met in middle school when we were living in South Florida. We went to the same high school and graduated in 2019, and we both decided to go to UCF. Gus majored in health sciences, and I received my degree in event management from Rosen. We have moved back to South Florida and are moving forward with our careers. We both say that attending UCF was one of the best times in our lives; we learned so much about ourselves and the world around us.