For Jessica, Benjamin was just a friend's brother who would be helping out with a ministry she was leading. He was quiet and shy but also cute and muscular (she told her mom so after meeting him,) but that was the last she thought of him in any romantic way...until 9 months later when a glance at the men's section of I Cantori one evening suddenly made something click. She realized she could easily fall for this guy. However, she was headed to Thailand for the year, and all they had was finals week and a two-week trip to Italy (not enough time to start anything serious, right?) When Benjamin first met Jessica, he thought she was way too peppy and decided he would be super sarcastic to her (some things never change.) It wasn't until second semester that he started to think more of her than just a friend. When she played Gabriel for SonRise while he played Peter, he realized he couldn't help but admit she was gorgeous, but there were several other guys trying to get Jessica's attention, so he decided he'd just sit back and wait for a moment to MAYBE drop a hint.

After their last final (which happened to be a joint final in I Cantori), the two headed with some friends to eat lunch. Jessica brought her yearbook for friends to sign, and although she told them she wasn't going to look at it until after Italy, she was curious what Benjamin would write. Once she got back to her dorm room, she barely waited a minute to read what he had written. It ended with: "I'm always reluctant to say goodbye because I've had to say so many. Instead I'll say see you later. Remember, God is closest during hard times. I suppose I could be too." That was enough to get her thinking and texting her mom and friends, asking what they thought she should do! A texting conversation ended with both realizing each other might have feelings which led to a conversation under a picnic shelter in pouring rain. Several shopping trips for their upcoming tour, a movie night with her family, and a 7+ hour plane ride filled with non-stop talking brought them to Italy. In between seeing the sites, they took their first picture together and held hands, at first trying to be inconspicuous, but pretty soon a few friends caught on. Two weeks after they had first expressed any interest in each other, Benjamin brought Jessica out for a beautiful Italian sunrise by a Medici villa in Florence and asked her to be his girlfriend. Since starting to date, they've visited four other countries together (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and England) and plan to add a 5th when they honeymoon to Scotland. They survived 8 months apart as Jessica spent a school year overseas and since then have tried to be apart from each other as little as possible! Both have enjoyed creating drama...which includes playing Gabriel and Jesus for SonRise as well as winning Southern Adventist University's talent show singing "All I Ask of You" with the help of their friends.

On July 27, 2019, Benjamin created a scavenger hunt that took Jessica all around Southern to the special places where their relationship had begun. A final riddle took her all the way to Fall Creek Falls where he had set up candles, string lights, and flower petals leading to him. After telling her that he had been hoping this would happen since the second month they dated, he got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife to which she said "Always!" And the rest of this story continues to be written each day...