Bill and Alex met during a two-week summer travel course in Asheville, North Carolina—each part of their own scholars program at Montgomery College. By pure luck, they ended up in the same class and hanging out with the same social group. They didn't know it yet but this was the start of their story.

Bill and Alex hadn’t spoken since summer 2017. Then one day, Bill spotted her vlogs on their college’s website. Curious, he watched—and the more he saw, the more he wanted to reconnect. So he reached out, hoping to see how she was doing.

After their classes one Friday evening, Bill and Alex grabbed sushi and caught a showing of "A Quiet Place". Between the quiet thrills and shared smiles, Alex said “yes” to being Bill's girlfriend —and just like that, their story officially began.

Bill and Alex celebrated their first anniversary at the fanciest place on earth to them at the time - Ruth Chris Steakhouse. They then walked around downtown Bethesda and grabbed ice cream at the local Haagen Daz.

Bill and Alex both got bachelor's degrees! And so they began their careers.

Bill moved 1,700 miles away to join a PhD program at the Colorado School of Mines, and they started a 3-year long distance relationship.

Bill traveled back to Maryland under the sweet cover of celebrating Alex’s birthday—or so she thought. What she didn’t know was that he had rented out a movie theater and created a heartfelt video montage of their journey together. As the final frame faded, Bill got down on one knee.

Alex plans to move to Colorado in 2027 to live with Bill while he finishes his PhD. They will continue building a small family of their own.