It was Austin's Senior year and Nicole's Junior year (but her first semester at U of I), and she had just joined a campus group called "Adventure Club." Austin had been a part of the club for years. The group met every Thursday to play games like hide-and-seek in the arboretum or scavenger hunts across campus. Sometimes it just ended up being a chance for friends to hangout after class. On the first Thursday of the semester, the club threw a party to celebrate the start of the year. Nicole was very nervous since it was her first college party. When she first arrived, she didn’t know many people, but she noticed Austin and thought he was handsome and had a great laugh. They were introduced a little later, and for some reason, Austin could not stop talking about his dog, Rigby. He immediately started showing her photos, and she thought Rigby was insanely cute. She knew then, Austin was single. The next day, Nicole was taking the bus home from class in a rush to get to work. At the time, she was doing restoration work in a forest off-campus—mostly pulling weeds, spraying herbicide, and planting native species. Her "work uniform" consisted of outdoor pants with far too many pockets, a long-sleeve shirt, rain boots, and a bucket hat. It was a look. Austin happened to be taking the bus home from class as well. Nicole's campus parking space happened to be on the street right behind Austin's apartment. Austin and Nicole spotted each other on the bus and Austin came over to say hi, recognizing her from adventure club. She was so embarrassed and didn't want him to see her dressed like that, but he didn't seem to mind at all. The very next day, they saw each other on the bus again. It felt like a sign. Since they were both in Adventure Club and kept crossing paths, they finally exchanged numbers. They talked more and more every day and officially started dating a few weeks later and have been together for almost 8 years now.