Doug Charles and Trisha Whitmire

In May 2015, I met Doug in two of my sociology courses. He was a master’s student and I had just started my PhD. We started dating in August and continued through our programs together. Doug graduated with his master’s and went on to join me in the PhD program. After many years of working on our dissertations together, supporting each other through the struggles and all the times we each wanted to give up, we finally graduated together in Spring 2020. In August 2021, exactly six years after our first date, we got engaged. In November 2021, we finally got to walk in our graduation ceremony. I would not have made it through without his support, and I’m so grateful that UCF brought us together.