Wedding Party
Eric Scott
Best Man
Eric and I met when we were pretty young, neither of us actually remember it. Eric was a 4 sport phenom in high school, getting varsity letters in cross country, basketball, track, and volleyball. We were able to share experiences with UMD sports, suffering caused by engineering classes, and trying to find a job in similar career fields after college. These days a lot of our time is spent together playing board games or watching the DC/UMD sports teams, and I'm grateful of the time we get to spend together.
Jason Scott
Best Man
Jason and I also met when we were very young, and neither of us remember that moment either. Despite the fact that I ran track in college, Jason has the better career 5k and 2 mile time after tearing up the track (and cross country courses) in high school. Jason studied kinesiology at UMD and has taken on the challenge of being a middle school gym teacher (and doing it very well). The three of us will hang out in a group, so Jason's also included in the board game sessions, and I'm glad we all learned to get along once we got older.
Alex Yuan
Groomsman
Alex was the first person I met at UMD Freshman move in day and turned out to be my randomly paired roommate at UMD, part of a honors program where everyone lived on the same 2 floors. The program we ended up in wasn't even on Alex's list of preferences, so I contend that he was placed there solely to be my roommate. We vented about our engineering classes and he introduced me to the world of PC games (for better or worse). I was tremendously lucky that a random roommate turned out to be one of my best friends, just don't ask him about our ping pong games from the dorms.
Matt Shollenberger
Groomsman
Group projects can be rough, but sometimes you're lucky enough to find people you work really well with. Matt and I met when we got randomly placed on the same group project team, but by the end of the semester, I was convinced I needed to take as many classes with this guy as possible. We spent a lot of time together those 4 years studying, working on more group projects, or doing a take home final. My college experience would not have been the same if I had to take all those classes by myself.
Yeon Cho
Groomsman
I don't remember the first time I met Yeon, but one of my earliest memories of him was playing bubble ball at a UMD event and he sent one of our friends flying with the inflatable ball. Yeon was the one who initially invited me to Rosebrook, and I'm thankful that we're part of the same church community now. Yeon has an extremely kind heart, even if you have to look past the quirkiness a little bit. He's also taught himself to be an excellent cook, and I'm looking forward to eating at his place for years to come.
Myles Arrington
Groomsman
Myles and I met at a campus ministry group at UMD and bonded over our shared love of Christian hip-hop and basketball. By the time we were upperclassmen, we had put a system together to save seats at UMD basketball games for our friend group, as well as organize Saturday morning basketball runs at the rec center. Myles has always been teaching me how to be hospitable towards others, even if he doesn't realize it. And if you're ever wondering what's going on with my Instagram bio, this is the guy that started it.
Andrew Cachiaras
Groomsman
If you had observed Andrew and I from a distance at UMD, you probably wouldn't have thought we'd be friends because our personalities are quite different. Our shared love of college basketball provided the opening to grow our relationship and we've spent a lot of time talking sports ever since. Andrew taught me how to swing a golf club, and I'm sure he'll enjoy kicking my butt when I finally pick up the game. Andrew is also a lifelong Vikings fan, and he has slowly turned me into a NFL fan over the years, though Jayden Daniels certainly helped too.
Anna Sol Park
Maid of Honor
Anna and I met in an elective Korean class sophomore year of college. We quickly bonded over common ground in being the eldest daughter to Korean immigrant parents, having two younger sisters, working at a local restaurant together, and exploring our faith. Anna's love of life and thoughtfulness of others are qualities that I admire a lot about her. She's got a superpower to break through social barriers and get a conversation going regardless of who she's speaking to. Through lots of joy and growing pains over the years, unintentionally shedding tears together in public spaces, our friendship has blossomed in depth and complexity.
Nicole Asbun
Maid of Honor
Nicole and my friendship began our freshman year of college. We lived on the same floor and became friends while we were snowed in during our first semester; battling cabin fever. Little did we know we would be stuck together the next three years as roommates and gym buddies--with Nicole having to do some extra exercises adjusting the squat rack for me after her set. Putting height aside-- that's also the kind of person she is, going out of her way to make sure others are taken care of. Nicole's ability to challenge herself leaves no room for doubt in what she can achieve. We've been nurturing a long distance relationship since 2019.
Bethany Patocs
Bridesmaid
I learned that friendships can withstand time and distance through Bethany. If I could highlight and bold "distance" here, I would. Bethany and I became friends in middle school in California. When my family moved to South Korea the summer after 8th grade, Bethany and I kept in touch all throughout high school (taking turns on the early morning shift of Skyping through the time difference and busy high school schedules) and throughout college (where we had bi-coastal catch-up sessions, thankfully with better technology). Although we haven't lived in the same time-zone since middle school, our friendship continues on steadily.
Minjie Yim
Bridesmaid
Starting high school in a new country was rough. But what made it a little bearable was having a friend who was experiencing a similar change. Minjie and my friendship started out by her approaching me to help open her locker and then trauma bonding over a shared transpacific move the same summer. Through the rest of our teenage years, we supported one another through our regularly scheduled angst and the seasonal March Madness all-nighters. We would keep each other company while working on homework and falling asleep on each other, occasionally sharing a rare American snack. Minjie's boldness and knack for detail has kept me on my toes, but also taught me those same traits.
Grace Jeon
Bridesmaid
Grace burst into my life second semester of freshman year of high school. She intrigued me as she was excited about her move to Korea from the US. A rather opposite experience from my own. Additionally, we couldn't be more opposites in terms of interests. Grace is a creative; massively talented in theater and art while I enjoyed playing sports. Our spring schedules would involve parting after school with Grace heading to the spring musical rehearsals while I made my way to the soccer field for outdoor practice. Even so, we love to hear about the other's passions and are each other's biggest fans; attending each other's hard work! Grace's kindheartedness and perseverance models a guideline for me to follow.
Hope Han
Bridesmaid
Hope and I didn't know we were in the same GenEd math class our freshman year of college until she and I started attending the same church later in the semester. We grew in our friendship as we navigated our faith and church life during college, leaning on each other while we sought a relationship with Jesus and the community we were a part of. Hope's combination of gentle curiosity, firm values, with a bit of TikTok humor sprinkled in, can create a cozy and ambient night and then turn it into a full blown talent show. I'm constantly learning from Hope how to practice compassion and gentleness along with letting humor take over once in awhile.
Mahogany Dunn-Davison
Bridesmaid
While Maho and I met sophomore year of college, our roommate saga began when Maho, Hope, and another mutual friend moved in with me in 2019. We became even closer the following year when COVID hit and the two of us downsized to another apartment to weather out the pandemic after everyone around us went back home. But we didn't know that we'd continue to be roommates for another 5 years. Our conversations while living together, both random and intentional, have expanded my emotional reflection as well as my knowledge of trivial facts. Did you know that it costs a single person over $50,000 to climb Mount Everest?