Claire and Stevie first met in 2006 at a summer leadership conference that their high schools participate in every year. There was a bit of a history between the St. Francis girls and the Bosco boys - at one point there was a broad reminder that the “L” in SYLC stood for leadership...not love. At the time, however, there were zero romantic sparks. It was for the best.

Twelve years later, Claire found herself at UCLA for grad school. She remembered that Stevie was back on campus coaching, but she was a little delayed in reaching out. He claims he saw her walking on campus one time and yelled her name repeatedly to no avail. Claire has no recollection of this. Then one fateful day in October, Claire was taking a new route across campus. Turning the corner of Pauley Pavilion, she bumped into someone while she was on the phone with her mom. She looked up and who could it be but Stevie Rodriguez, giving a tour to a recruit. (This is affectionately referred to as their “re-meet cute.”) Neither could really believe it, so they hugged quickly and promised to catch up over drinks. Luckily, Stevie held Claire to that promise. Pretty soon they realized they were quite alike and spent most of their limited free time together. Claire fed Stevie with coveted UCLA dining swipes, and Stevie never failed to deliver an iced coffee to Claire’s Wednesday 1pm class. Apparently, everyone around them could tell they were falling in love, although they had yet to admit it. (Claire’s brother Drew actually called it in early November.) They could deny it no longer when they attended a wedding together (shoutout to Jeff and Claire) and their special connection was obvious.

Fast-forward to the craziness of 2020. Amidst a global pandemic and historic wildfires was Stevie’s planned proposal, which Claire had no idea was in the works. She probably should have realized something was up when the location of their original weekend getaway was evacuated and Stevie (and Claire’s mom) insisted they should still go somewhere. Another hint might have been when she asked Stevie if she needed a nice outfit as she noticed he had packed a belt (which he rarely wears), and he got inexplicably flustered. Nevertheless, Claire was oblivious to Stevie’s secret plan, and August 22nd was a truly perfect day. During a stunning sunset at Carmel Beach, Stevie asked the big question and Claire said yes with a signature face grab. Claire & Stevie are excited to celebrate with their loved ones and look forward to seeing everyone in August 2021!