Ashley and I met in our first grad school class at NYU-Poly in Brooklyn. We were both in the Biomedical Engineering program, so we had most classes together. Ashley says she noticed me during our first Biophysics class. The professor was describing the different topics for our research projects that semester, and I made some comment about how I thought one of the topics was a waste of time because the findings weren't going to directly improve anyone's quality of life... Evidently, that was the topic that Ashley was interested in... so needless to say she noticed me. Later that week, while I was walking out of the subway exit Ashley bumped into me and introduced herself, saying she recognized me from class. I would find out later that she saw me getting off the train and sprinted to catch up to me so she could "run into me," but she totally pulled it off at the time. We sat next to each other in class that day and spent the entire time getting to know each other, despite getting constantly shushed by the speaker because we couldn't stop talking. By the end of that lecture, we both knew that we would be important to each other.

By November, I was spending most of my time at Ashley's apartment in Brooklyn. We spent most of that time attempting to study, but usually ending up talking for hours on end or watching movies. I think we both knew that there was something more than friendship between us, but we didn't know how to take the next step or talk about it. One day, while studying for an exam, I decided to try and get some answers. I brought up something about having a date with someone else, and Ashley got jealous - just the reaction I was hoping for! Not long after that, we decided to date officially.

Since getting together, Ashley and I had taken up skiing each year. It became an escape that we could look forward to during the cold winters. This particular ski trip was a short weekend in Windham Mountain with a few friends, and I thought it would be a good place to propose. I planned to propose at the top of the mountain, just before the final run of the day. Out on the slopes, I was so nervous all day that I could barely keep up with my friends on the bunny slopes. When the end of the day finally came, we got in line for our favorite ski lift, but when we got there, it was closed! We were so thrown off, we even tried to bribe the lift operator to let us on, but she wouldn't do it! All the while, Ashley was pretty confused about why we were so concerned about getting one more run in. Luckily, we managed to find a lift that was open, even though we hadn't been on it before. When we got to the top, there was a deck with an arch that was overlooking the whole mountain - it was perfect! I handed my phone to our friends and asked Ashley to take a photo with me under the arch. When she turned around, I was down on one knee and asked her to marry me! Obviously, she said yes, or we wouldn't all be here. Thank you so much for being with us to celebrate this day and our love for one another! See you in Arkansas!