Christian's story: After a colleague asked to interview me for a research paper they were writing on online dating, I started checking out the Cleveland dating scene (for science!), which brought me to a City Social speed dating event. When I missed out on the first event I intended to attend (tickets sold out!), I made sure to grab my ticket early for the next one. When I arrived, I decided to chat with the guy in front of me in line. He seemed very sweet, and after getting to know him even better when we sat down for our four-minute speed date, I made sure to circle Drew A., ‘tall guy beginning,’ as a person I’d want to see again. On our second date, when I asked Drew what was important to him, he said “making sure everyone feels included.” I fell pretty hard after that, and I’m grateful I didn’t end up getting a ticket that first time around because I might have missed out on meeting Drew. Drew's story: Back in early 2025, I had found out about the Cleveland speed dating scene, which compared to online dating, seemed like a good thing to try. At one of these events at a coffee shop, I had arrived early, and I was waiting in line to get a drink when someone behind me said "This is a cute place," and struck up a conversation with me. I was a little nervous being there, but it was nice to have a friendly chat with this woman with the nametag "Christian H." When the speed dating started and I arrived at Christian’s booth, talking with her felt very natural and easy, like she was already a good friend. After the event, I was happy to find we had both circled each other's names, where I immediately followed up with an email to her. It was during these dates that we discovered we had a lot in common: PhDs, a fondness for board games, and an affinity to playing in German polka bands. More importantly, I learned Christian to be a very kind-hearted, compassionate, playful, funny, intelligent, and selfless person. Looking back, I had no idea I was walking into that speed date event about to hit the jackpot with the first person that I talked to. Asking Christian to marry me was a no brainer, and we are very much looking forward to our friends and family being with us at our wedding day.