It was the night of Maalav's graduation, and he was out celebrating with friends when his phone buzzed with a notification from Tinder. He had matched with someone—Emma. Her bio simply said, "Guess my major." Now, Maalav could’ve taken this as a serious challenge, but instead, he went with the most stereotypical guess he could think of: marketing. Why? Well, blonde hair, green eyes—obviously, the classic marketing major look, right? Turns out, that guess was just the start of something way bigger than a simple swipe. What followed were late-night conversations, spontaneous moments of sneaking out for their first date, and, eventually, learning to love each other despite the distance. And by distance, I mean, long-distance. They officially started dating on July 5th, 2022. Their relationship endured Emma moving to New York City for four months (which, let’s be honest, probably meant she was living the "NYC hustle" life while Maalav was holding down the fort in Omaha). Then she came back to Kearney to finish her undergrad, but the distance couldn’t keep them apart. The following year, they were living in Omaha, adopting their dog Koda, and traveling around the country, checking off states like they were on a mission. So far, they’ve visited 8 states out of 50—which, honestly, is way more than some people can say. Then came law school. Emma packed up and moved to Iowa City to pursue her legal dreams, while Maalav stayed back in Omaha with Koda (and probably made Koda the most spoiled dog in the Midwest). But hey, while Emma's out there crushing it in law school, Maalav’s out here holding down the fort, and they’re both totally killing it in their own ways. Together, they’re excited to see what the future holds as they begin the next chapter of their lives. One thing’s for sure: the journey’s only just begun, and it’s already been one heck of a ride