Dominick and I met at the start of our junior year at OSU in 2019. I had just transferred from Eastern Michigan University my sophomore year and never expected to move to OSU as I had not many connections there. Nonetheless, I toured OSU and really loved the atmosphere and made the jump! Now jump to September 2019, we both laugh when people ask how we met because it was through Tinder. YES, Tinder. But this is where it gets funny. The day we matched I was in the Scott food hall and I was hoping he was going to reach out, but I was also slightly nervous about his profile photos. Just imagine, professional photos for acapella where he’s wearing a red flannel and aviator sunglasses. Sitting in poses with his arms crossed, totally giving FRAT. Within 30 minutes, I receive a message. It’s the nerdiest acapella joke you could imagine, I’d type it out but I’ll leave Dom to do that in his version. That same evening, Dominick asks if I want to go to Buckeye Donuts with him. Mind you it’s 11pm on a Thursday night and he wants me to walk down High St. by myself. Of course I do just that. I may have even told a white lie to my roommates because they 100% would’ve stopped me, I was practically asking to get kidnapped. BUT, what started as something completely sketchy, turned into at least 2-3 hours of talking. This is also where he introduced me to his and now my favorite jam band, Lotus. I may have told him I thought he looked like a “douchebag” in his photos after he asked me what I thought about his profile and he’ll never let me live that down. Regardless, I’ll never regret making that sketchy walk to meet Dom despite the roommates being a littttttle mad when I told them ;)

The deck was stacked against me. A loner A Capella kid, played DnD every Friday night, a beard that I finally decided to stop growing out, and a Tinder profile that made me look like a douche (which Taylor let me know on our very first date). To be fair, my opening line on Tinder didn't hide it- "What do you call an A Cappella group in juvie? Trebled Youth!". It didn't work very often, but it got the job done one September night that ended up being the most important day of my life. At around 11pm on the same day we matched, Taylor agreed to meet up at Buckeye Donuts for an impromptu first date. She has always had a strong sense of danger and won't leave the house without a backup plan (sarcasm), so naturally, she LIED to her roommates as to where she was headed so late- "If I told them, they would've stopped me!". I still remember waiting outside of the UDF on OSU's campus. I wondered if she would actually show up. Should I lean on the building to look cool? What donut should I get (it was always going to be an apple fritter)? And against all odds, she really did show up. Looking back at our first date always makes me cringe. I remember rambling nonstop about myself and all the dorky shit I like. Probably mansplaining DnD, what jamtronica is, playing a clip from a Lotus song, why Pitch Perfect is and isn't representative of real life competitive collegiate A Cappella, and how I was going to be a rich and successful financial advisor one day. But I also realize now that even on that first date, Taylor has always accepted me for who I am. Not for one second over these past 7 years have I felt judged, or that I had to earn her love. And not to say that I haven't changed- she's supported me through countless times of questioning who I was and what I wanted life to look like. But she always, without fail, pushed me to be me. A better version of myself- but still me. I know that I would not be the man I am today without my best friend in the entire world and the love of my life being there every step of the way.