We met in April 2017 at the University of Arkansas at a Volunteer Action Center Board weekly meeting. I (Hailey) had been on the board the previous year and was now chair of the Student Engagement committee. Carter had applied for a coordinator position on my committee. We met at the first meeting with the new board and I was instantly interested. I remember seeing his name on my roster of committee members and without knowing anything about him knew he would be something special. At the end of that meeting I went up to him and said "Oh are you a Sigma Nu?" Smooth I know. We realized that we had a bunch of friends in common and parted ways. Later that week, I have come to find out, he had debated asking me to his fraternity formal, but didn't know if that would be too forward since we barely knew each other so he asked someone else. A few weeks later I found out he was going to my sorority formal. I reached out to him to let him know he'd have a familiar face at dinner. Formal came around and our good friend Greg asked me to meet up before formal, little did I know he had also asked Carter to come to this hang out as well. I was so awkward and barely talked. All night for formal I kept catching him staring at me (although he denies it), so much so that a friend of mine pulled me aside and asked "Do you know that guy? He keeps staring at you?" Later that night we friended each other on Snapchat and haven't stopped talking since. From then on life has been nothing but fun and joy through multiple moves, puppies and happy hours.

Early in 2020, Carter said something along the lines of "I won't propose until I finish my MBA program". Knowing a thing or two about Carter Cole I had a strong feeling that would be the literal situation and as soon after walking across the stage that he could propose he would. As graduation approached, COVID was going strong and I was worried about what this would mean for his graduation. We had since left Nashville and had plans to go back for his graduation. As you can imagine, graduation in person was canceled but our trip to Nashville was still on. As the cases got higher and the days got shorter the decision was made to celebrate Carter's graduation in Little Rock instead of Nashville. This was quite the curveball because I was pretty certain he would propose in Nashville, the city we loved so much,. I had to be prepared just in case Little Rock was the decided destination. Multiple online shopping orders and beauty appointments later we were on the way. Once in Little Rock everything was pretty normal. Carter played a lot of golf while also seeming to be a little stressed. I concluded that the causes were likely his new job and finishing up grad school but couldn't help but hope a ring in his bag was adding to his nerves. The day of graduation we had planned to go to dinner to celebrate with his family and a few close friends. Before dinner we were set to take some pictures with his friend Jack who had also finished grad school. As we pulled up to a beautiful pond, Carter grabbed his cap and gown (secretly concealing the ring) and headed to the pond. Within minutes, he threw the cap and gown to the ground and got down on one knee. It was all a blur but my best friend had asked me to marry him! What proceeded was the best evening celebrating with our families and closest friends. No detail was overlooked and August 7th, 2020 was the best day ever (except for maybe October 16, 2021)

I really never understood what people meant when they said “they just knew”. But on April 4th 2017, I was presented with that moment. On this day, I attended my first VAC meeting, where unbeknownst to me, I met my beautiful wife to be. At the time, I did not know what the feeling meant or if it was even real. But I remember that moment in time feeling significant. I felt like I had had a more true interaction with her than with any other girl. Our short conversation, walking out of Futrall Hall, felt like an absolutely perfect connection. I remember returning home afterwards to the Sigma Nu house and I couldn’t get that feeling out of my head. The first thing I did was stop by my friend’s room. I just needed to tell him about her and talk about how there’s something special about this girl. I remember this feeling staying with me even the next day when I ran into my other friend that knew Hailey. After asking him about this new mystery girl, he immediately cracked a smile and told me “I should’ve seen this coming” as if he knew something I did not. My favorite memory from the beginning of Hailey and I’s story is more of a feeling than a specific memory. Everything was so easy and natural. I never felt like I had to force anything. I remember waking up happy each morning, for what seemed like no reason, and thinking everything was going to work out no matter what I faced. Suddenly, everything I was doing, she was there. No matter what happened, I wasn’t worried. Everything felt real and I started realizing this was something very special. Stories like these seem too good to be true. I always thought “Love at first sight” and that feeling of “I just knew” were not real. But I knew the moment Hailey and I met that there was something special that I couldn’t explain and couldn’t walk away from. I cannot wait to officially marry my love at first sight on October 16th , 2021 and officially become a cliché. ☺