We first met during the International Student Orientation at Cornell College. However, we didn't become friends until the Culture Show in our freshmen year, when we both took part in the same performance. After the show, we started to hang out more in the same group of friends, which led to two-people only study/hangout nights with ramen noodles and Jackie Chan movies. Feelings were caught and we started dating the second semester of our freshmen year. Little did we (silly, young, dumb kids), know that it would be the start of our lives and journey together, through the ups and the downs, through the breakups and the makeups, through tears of happiness and sometimes heartbreaks, for a long time to come :)

Zaw had booked a super cute cozy cottage for us and planned activities for the day he was going to propose. After a day filled with fun outdoor activities, we came back to the cottage and he told me to just go outside, take some pictures and do other stuff while he prepared for dinner. That’s when I knew something was up and there was a high probability that he was going to propose that night lol. After about an hour of me hanging outside the cottage, Zaw called for me to come in. As I walked in, the cottage was decorated with candles around (on the ground, tables, bed etc), and a vase of rose on the table. Zaw started to bring out the dish he made himself, which was grilled cod fish with scallops topped with coconuts. Zaw even made sangria from scratch himself. There was also a selection of French music that Zaw had chosen playing in the background while we were eating. Admittedly, that was one of the best & most romantic meals I’ve ever had in my life. After the meal, we started to talk about all of our memories, how we first met, our college time together, the trips that we made and the places we been to, the things that we did and how we each make each other so happy. Then Zaw asked me if I remember the time that we broke up. We both started crying, and Zaw said that it was a painful memory for him but it also made him realize that he never want to spend his life without me ever again. And that’s when he got down on his knee, speaking a whole paragraph in Vietnamese (that he had practiced for a long time) about how much he loves me and how wonderful he thinks I am, and finally said: “Em lam vo. anh nhe’? – Will you marry me?”. Of course I said YES and we both hugged and cried tears of joy for a good ten minutes. It was one of the happiest moments in our lives :)