The story truly begins back when Jared and Meagan both decided to attend Juniata College in the spring of 2008. They were in a Facebook group for incoming students. Jared sent Meagan a Facebook post to ask (and this is a direct quote), "r u definitely going to Juniata next year, and any ideas of majors?" to which Meagan responded (another direct quote), "heyy Jared, I am officially going :) it looks like you are too? i'm still trying to figure out a major. i have too many interests for my own good, but i'm hoping 4 years will give me enough time to decide. and yourself?" There were a few more cringe-worthy messages back and forth before Jared decided Facebook messaging with other incoming students was very awkward and didn't reach out to anyone else. Fast-forward to August of 2008, when they were signed up for a week long orientation/adventure week at Juniata before freshman year classes started. Jared and Meagan officially met in person at a meet and greet and ran into each other at multiple events. They became fast friends and once classes started they realized they were both taking Intro to Psychology and sat together in class. On top of that, they had mutual friend groups and spent a lot of time outside of class together: experiencing fun Juniata traditions (Storming of the Arch, Mountain Day), mastering the game of crazy pong, and transitioning into this new chapter of college life in each other's company. Later that year, Jared asked Meagan to be his girlfriend and they've been together ever since!

The day Jared and Meagan got engaged was also the day Meagan took her dreaded Step 1 board exam for medical school. She had been so focused on studying for weeks leading up to this that she didn't suspect anything else was going to happen that day. After her 8 hour exam, Jared cooked dinner for them at her apartment in Wisconsin. After eating, Jared said he had a gift for Meagan for getting through her exam. Meagan looked through a photo album book Jared made with pictures from all their adventures together and, to Meagan's surprise, the last page read, "Will you marry me?" Meagan, of course, said yes! The icing on the cake was they had a pre-planned trip to Hawaii for post-exam celebrations which ended up being an engagement celebration as well!