UCF Love Story 2026: Almost Everywhere, Almost Always
Kelly Shea ’23 and Brandon Burgess’s ’25 love story nearly happened a dozen times before it ever began.
They grew up three minutes apart in Lithia, Fla. — close enough to share the same schools, the same community and even the same values, yet somehow never close enough to meet. They passed each other in hallways. They knew each other’s families. Their lives ran in parallel for years, quietly missing the moment when everything might have changed.
It took an ocean to finally bring them together.
In middle school, both were selected to participate in a rare student travel program to Europe. They went on the same trip in 2015 and barely spoke. Years later, when a second opportunity came in 2019, neither of them was sure they would go. Schedules were busy. Life was loud. Saying no would have been easier.
Instead, they said yes.
Somewhere between long bus rides, unfamiliar cities and conversations that stretched past midnight, familiarity gave way to something else entirely. By the time they returned home, what had once been coincidence felt inevitable.
“It really was right place, right time,” Kelly says. “If we had met earlier, I don’t know if it would have worked. We had to grow into ourselves first.”
Soon after, Kelly left for the University of Central Florida, stepping into a new chapter filled with possibility — and uncertainty. Brandon was still finishing high school, already certain that UCF was his future. They talked openly about the distance, the age gap, the unknowns. Staying together wasn’t assumed. It was thoughtfully considered.
And then, quietly, it was chosen.
At UCF, Kelly discovered a campus that didn’t ask her to choose between creativity and purpose. An elementary education major with an inventive streak, she turned a simple travel mishap into an entrepreneurial breakthrough, creating DripLock, a spill-prevention product born from frustration and curiosity. With support from UCF’s Innovation Lab and Blackstone LaunchPad, she learned how to prototype, pitch and build — crossing colleges and disciplines without limits.
Brandon arrived at UCF not long after, majoring in integrated business while finding his place within the baseball program. When the pandemic reshaped his recruiting path, he didn’t step away from the game. He stepped closer — becoming a student manager, committing countless hours and eventually earning a place on staff. His days were long. His goals were clear.
So were theirs.
“We’re very independent people,” Brandon says. “But we do everything together.”
That togetherness often looked unconventional. Long hours. Missed dinners. Games where Kelly sat in the stands while Brandon worked the field. Yet somehow, those moments became the glue. UCF sporting events turned into sacred time — Saturdays reserved for football, rainstorms endured side by side and traditions that made space for connection when time was scarce.
“UCF is how we bonded,” Kelly said. “That’s our time.”
When Brandon began thinking about proposing, there was never any question where it should happen.
On a quiet Sunday evening during a bye week, he led Kelly onto the field at Acrisure Bounce House — the place where so many of their shared memories lived. At the 50-yard line, beneath the lights, he proposed with a diamond passed down from Kelly’s mother, a ring rediscovered just in time for the next chapter.
Above them, the scoreboard lit up with their names.
It was intentional. Personal. Perfectly theirs.
“UCF gave us so much,” Brandon said. “Our careers. Our community. Our memories. It only made sense.”
Today, Kelly and Brandon continue building lives that move in parallel — coaching, inventing, mentoring, teaching and choosing each other again and again in the quiet in-between moments. Their story is not one of instant sparks or perfect timing, but of patience, shared values and trust in the long view.
Some love stories arrive all at once.
Theirs took time — crossing continents, campuses and seasons — until it felt like home.
