In 2017, Matt was in the process of choosing between MBA programs. The decision came down to Yale School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut and Haas School of Business in Berkeley, California. While the decision was a challenge for Matt, he ultimately decided to attend Yale due to its proximity to family and friends. The joke would quickly be on Matt (and his family!) when in August 2017, during his first few weeks in New Haven, he met a Los Angeles native named Danielle (with a little help of an online dating app). Danielle was in her final year in New Haven after four years of college and three years of law school. Following graduation, Danielle had two clerkships and a law firm gig lined up in Los Angeles. Despite the known impending geographic challenges that Matt and Danielle would face, they were drawn to each other and continued to spend increasing amounts of time together. Following Danielle’s graduation from law school, Matt and Danielle took a (way too early in their relationship) trip to Italy before Danielle returned to California to begin her first clerkship. While Matt remained on the east coast for his second year of business school, their relationship grew with frequent cross-country visits and nightly post-work phone calls.

Matt decided to join Danielle in Los Angeles after graduating business school. They moved into a small one-bedroom apartment in their first year together in Los Angeles. Little did they know, Matt and Danielle would go from a long-distance relationship to spending every hour together in a 600 square foot apartment at the start of the covid pandemic. But their relationship grew even as their world became smaller. Over the next two years, Matt and Danielle were there for each other through job transitions, extended east coast trips to visit Matt’s family, and dozens of one-on-one scrabble games to pass the time.

In March 2022, Matt and Danielle were set to travel to Hawaii for a long-awaited getaway. Matt spent the weeks leading up to it planning a surprise proposal overlooking the ocean in Maui. Danielle got suspicious when Matt refused to tell her the plan for one day of their trip, except that Danielle should pack a dress for a mysterious fancy dinner. Danielle called her mom (secretly, a co-conspirator), who offered words of reassurance but told her not to expect anything. And so Danielle didn't, even when Matt rushed Danielle out of the hotel room and asked her if he thought their outfits appropriately matched. Lo and behold, Matt got down on one knee and asked Danielle to marry him. Danielle said yes, and she hasn't stopped smiling since.