We ran into each other on the first day of orientation at Stern Business School while we were standing in line waiting to enter the auditorium. As she remembers it, he was acting a bit weird, and then said “hi” awkwardly and followed her around. But as he recalls, she said “hi” first; he turned around and saw a pair of amazingly pretty eyes looking up followed by the cutest smile. After the standard B-school intros, we quickly found out that we attended UCLA and USC and were from the same year. Good thing we didn’t meet in college (it also helped that she didn’t know anything about football)! But who would have thought, 3000 miles away in New York, the LA college animosity actually brought us some good laughs, and we connected right away. During the first speech of our orientation, the speaker mentioned that 10% of our class would marry each other and asked the singles to standup. Then everyone was asked to look around… and there she was, standing and looking slightly shy, but undeniably cute. Hours later, we were finally introduced to our school blocks (kind of like the Harry Potter houses). For a second, he wondered whether she would be in his block too, but there was no sight of her after 20 minutes of pre-session mingling. Slightly disappointed, he kept chit-chatting with others like a good B-school kid. Then, seconds after our session started, she walked in… late as usual… At that time, fate was perhaps at play. Through the ups and downs of B-school and the highs and lows of the grind during recruiting, we bonded. In the freezing cold and under the flashing lights in the streets of New York, we fell in love. Together, we made the B school experience the time of our lives. Shortly after graduation, we moved in. While we had our differences, we grew closer after every fight and fell more deeply in love after every date.

Him: Do you wanna do a treasure hunt at this cute little Chapel during our trip to Finger Lakes? Her: What treasure hunt? Him: Every week there’s a treasure hunt at this secluded Chapel. Only the locals know about it. You go to the Chapel and look for hidden clues on the property. There are clues hidden everywhere on the property. Her: What are the treasures? Are they cool? Him: They’re decently interesting. I’ve heard people getting small gold accessories even. Her: Okay, let’s go. That night, he ordered a pair of looser white pants in order to fit the ring box in the pockets. Two nights before the trip to Finger Lakes, the pants arrived. During packing…. Him: Do you think these pink pants look okay? They looked white on the website, didn’t know they were actually light pink. Her: No, they look too feminine. And that was that. The night before the proposal, he pretended to have an upset stomach so he could hide in the bathroom to figure out the best way to fit the bulky ring box in his pockets. Next morning at breakfast at the B&B: B&B Owner: What are your plans for today? Her: We’re going to the Garrett Memorial Chapel for a treasure hunt! B&B Owner: Oh, I didn’t know they had treasure hunts, but I do know that there’s a mysterious door, right under the main stairs to the Chapel, where alchemists are supposedly practicing magic. Many photographers go take pictures of that door. She was then convinced of the treasure hunt story. We walked down the main stairs towards the chapel and saw a photographer (the engagement photographer he hired) shooting at a majestic door. So far, the story checked out completely. He turned her around at the bottom of the stairs… Him: There’s no treasure hunt that I’m aware of; the treasure of my life is standing right where you are… She actually looked down at her feet (so cute)… He continued with his speech… and she said “YES!”