Tanya (Dorrough) and Edward Tiger

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.