It was a cold November morning when two complete strangers prepared for a college visit with their parents. Ryan attending the visit with his dad while Rachel attended with her mother. The drive up north to the small village of Canton was a long and exciting one. Both high school students excited to see what this new area might hold for their future. Nervous, excited, tired, and cold these two strangers arrived in the early morning hours of Friday, November 9th,2012.
Ryan’s original plan was not to attend college but to join the airforce. After some unforseen issues, he had to alter his plans during his senior year of high school with no idea what to do. He decided that if he was unable to serve the country through service with the military he would follow the same mind set and serve in the most honorable way possible, Law Enforcement. As a result, this caused Ryan to attend a college visit at SUNY Canton to persue a degree in Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Leadership. Not only did he have the opportunity to persue the degree of his choice but he also knew members of the SUNY Canton Division 3 Baseball team. As a result, when a college visit presented itself, Ryan seized the opportunity to view both the avenues available for his degree as well as those available through the baseball program. When he arrived to the SUNY Canton Campus he had a sense of direction and knew exactly what he was doing. For the majority of that morning Ryan’s plans went exactly as planned: 1) Attend seminars relevant to his degree, 2) Introduce himself to the Baseball Coach, 3) View the athletic facilities, and 4) Meet with his friends currently on the baseball team. Once Ryan was able to complete those tasks he went to the dining hall for lunch and discussed the pros and cons of the college with his dad. After completing lunch, the final task of the day came at hand...the tour.
Rachel has always had a profound love for animals that couldn't be matched by anyone. At a young age Rachel knew that when she grew up she would be doing something in the veterinary field. While still in high school she had worked as a kennel and veterinary assistant at different practices and knew that she wanted to do more. She never saw herself pursuing the career path of a veterinarian but she knew she wanted to work along side veterinarians and pursue with the veterinary technician career. As a result, Rachel began looking at a variety of colleges that had good veterinary technology programs. Rachel viewed a few colleges but none had seemed to fit exactly what she was looking for. She then heard about the veterinary technology program located at SUNY Canton and decided to check it out. Rachel was unsure of this school because of the distance from home and she thought she may want to be closer to home. However, she decided to visit SUNY Canton just to learn more about their veterinary technician program. Rachel arrived at the SUNY Canton Campus and was able to learn more about the veterinary technician program all of which was very interesting to her. Rachel could tell that this college was different from all the others that she had visited but was unable to exactly establish what it was. All she knew was that the veterinary technician program offered at SUNY Canton was very promising and she needed to see more of the campus. Rachel continued to discuss differences and similarities about the colleges that she had visited to that of SUNY Canton over lunch with her mom. She then decided that before she went home she had to get a better overall view of the campus and decided to go on a tour...
A relatively small group of ambitious high school students and their parents left the SUNY Canton dining hall for a tour of the campus. The strangers walked the entire campus and were able to see all of the class buildings, the library, the “Roo’s House” or athletic facility, the dorm buildings, and the suites on campus. Throughout the entire tour a young student (Ryan) and what appeared to be his father held the doors for everyone. This act of kindness did not go unnoticed to Rachel. She continued to periodically look at the student in hopes that she wouldnt get caught by him. Rachel’s mom caught her daughters actions but didn’t say much to her. Rachel didn’t go unnoticed to Ryan though as she caught his eye towards the beginning of the tour. Rachel was wearing a pink hooded sweatshirt, and blue jeans. Throughout the tour Ryan continued to look at Rachel but was sure she hadn’t noticed him. The tour came to an end at the front entrance of the library...
After the tour guides provided a fairwell to the group of young students the group began to disperse. However, before Ryan and Rachel were too far from one another, Rachel’s mom said to Rachel, “So are you ready for this four hour drive home?” Before Rachel could respond, Ryan’s dad was quick to respond. “Oh you guys have a four hour drive home? Where are you from because our drive is about three and a half hours.” Rachel’s mom responded, “oh really? We are from colonie, where are you from?” Ryan’s dad continued to have a brief conversation with Rachel’s mom but Ryan partially tunned it out. Ryan just go lost in Rachel’s beauty and was doing everything he could to see her name tag. IIronically, Rachel had moved her name tag in order for Ryan to see it better. Rachel immediately noticed Ryan’s last name and did everything she could to commit it to memory. Ryan did the same thing with Rachel’s last name and was hoping she had some type of social media. Ryan and Rachel then parted ways, both hoping to see the other again. Once Ryan got into his dads truck he attempted to locate Rachel on facebook before he forgot her last name or lost service. Fortunately, he was able to find her just before he lost service...
...Four Hours Later... Rachel recieved a friend request on facebook from Ryan and accepted. Ryan sent Rachel a message following the acceptance wanting to learn more about her. The two individuals messaged back and forth for what seemed like forever (even though it was probably only 3-4 hours). Towards the end of the conversation Ryan asked Rachel to go see a movie with him in Clifton Park. Rachel agreed. The two individuals had no idea of what would happen next. The date was set to view James Bond Skyfall on Sunday, November 11th, 2012. When the day came the two individuals couldn’t have been more excited. Both arrived well before the movie started and the date was a complete success. Everything from Sunday, November 11th, 2012 until now has molded Ryan and Rachel from two individuals to one. This is our story and we are both so greatful for everyone who has supported us throughout the years. We never knew waking up on that Friday that it would turn out to become one of the most important days of our lives. - Ryan & Rachel