Victoria Claypoole and John Fiore

John and I first met on November 14, 2014 at MM 25 on Memory Mall. As a new graduate student, I found there weren’t many opportunities for social events, but since this was a Friday night game (and classes were released early) I decided to finally attend my first UCF football game. A mutual friend brought me to John’s tailgate. Being a natural Floridian, I should have been prepared for the warm days and cool evenings of November, but luckily for me John was chivalrous enough to lend me his sweatshirt during the (Floridian) cold night. Fast forward a few months and John and I finally reconnected at a Valentine’s Day event; by March we were officially dating! Over the next several years as I continued in my Ph.D. program and John graduated with his business degree, we continued to share our love for sports. John made sure I never missed another UCF home game (even during the 0-12 season)! While navigating internships, starting careers and finalizing dissertations, our love continued to flourish. On May 4th, 2018, after five long years of graduate school, I finally graduated with my doctorate degree. This was such a special day as both of our families were there to celebrate! As Dr. Szalma (my advisor) and I were walking out of the CFE arena, we saw a single pop-up tent on Memory Mall among the mass of people exiting the area. As we get closer, I noticed it was MY crazy family at this lone pop-up tent, complete with plastic glasses of champagne, in the exact spot where John and I first met! John proceeded to deliver a beautiful speech celebrating my accomplishments and at the end he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I (obviously) said yes! There could not have been a more meaningful proposal for the two of us, surrounded by our family at the same spot we first met almost four years prior! Now, we are still season ticket holders for UCF football, continually giving to the UCF community through service (30 Under 30; graduate student mentorship, etc.), and planning our wedding with a guest appearance from Knightro.