There are two sides to every story.

We met in college.

College is a special time, and as all who’ve attended know, you typically are forced to take a “Freshman Experience Course” to check some government mandated box... I mean help you get acclimated to college. If you are a fellow Golden Flash, then you know we refer to this course as “First Year Experience” (FYE). To make this course more accessible to freshmen, upperclassmen help facilitate the class and are known as “Student Success Leaders” (SSL). Now, I know you all really want to understand the full dynamic of this, and it's mostly relevant, so I’m going to keep drilling into this college enigma that you didn’t know was operating in the shadows. If you are already bored, just skip down a paragraph, but know I’m judging you and you may get confused later. FYE falls under the Student Success Programs (SSP) umbrella, and if you’re a spunky freshman that wants to give back to the next class of freshmen, then you can take a spring course through SSP where you are trained to become an SSL. Now, if you are thinking “but wait Justin, can I get even more involved and teach how to become an SSL in the spring, or even manage a bunch of SSLs who are teaching FYE in the fall?!?”, then you are right where I want you. In the fall, SSP interviews and selects approximately a dozen SSLs for a position called “SSP Intern”. Interns provide support to a group of SSLs on a weekly basis, and in the spring they interview and select students for a position called “Peer Leader Trainer” (PLT). PLTs teach the course on how to become SSLs. Confused? No? Good. Wishing you could go back to college and find the love of your life in SSP? Trust me, it'd be worth it, because that’s where our story begins. Let’s set the scene.

Kent State University. Circa fall 2015. Justin is a senior studying architecture and Brenna is a junior studying managerial marketing, the chances of their paths crossing were slim. Enter SSP. Kent State has started a new retention panel where a group of SSLs talk about their college experience. Justin is working as an SSP Intern and is randomly selected to moderate the panel for the class Brenna is serving as an SSL for. Justin arrives at the SSL course early (surprising, I know) and begins setting up. In walks Brenna. Stop. Can you feel it? Because I could. The girl that just walked into the room has a presence, someone who could steal your breath away with her looks, and makes you blind to the world around you with her personality. The two share a look, a smile, and a nod. Justin turns around and takes a breath mint out of his bag. This guy has lost himself. The panel runs smoothly, though Justin found it difficult to focus on moderating while simultaneously trying to remember Brenna’s answers and not noticeably stare at her. One anecdote that stuck in his head was that she is the middle child of seven kids… yikes. Despite the urge to talk to her after, Justin decided it was best to respect her distance. Later that evening, Justin mentions Brenna to one of his roommates who gives him an odd look stating “I’ve not heard you talk about a girl like this before.” Despite this, Justin accepts the fact that they likely won’t run into each other again, but nevertheless, he thinks about the encounter for the remainder of the semester. December 2015. The fall semester is coming to a close. Justin is sitting in the kick off meeting for the 2016 spring SSP PLTs. Initially, Justin was not going to apply for the position that year since it was his last semester of undergrad. However, the persistent encouragement of a fellow student ultimately convinced him otherwise. Shout out Brandon, wherever life has taken you. You telling me I had to take the class effectively changed mine and Brenna’s entire lives. The classroom is almost full. Justin looks around the room at the new and familiar faces, excited for one more SSP experience, when the last PLT walks into the room. Have you guessed it yet? Justin immediately puts his head down and bangs it against the desk. He and Brenna will spend the next semester as PLTs, a position that involves them being in a workshop together once a week for the entirety of the semester, a position where SSP clearly states you may not date your fellow PLTs, and a position that will inevitably drive him crazy. Here we go.

Justin spends the spring of 2016 stealing glances and trying to discreetly gain more knowledge about Brenna. He is mostly unsuccessful and barely talks to her. Coward. Does she have a boyfriend? Who are her friends? Where is she from? Does she think he’s cute? Etc. Feeling hopeless, Justin makes friends with Ariella Yager, who was most notably friends with Brenna. Here’s an opportunity. The PLT training course ends about 12 weeks into the 16 week semester. At this point Justin has about one month left of college to court Brenna. Seriously, who doesn’t love the term “court” of yesteryear? Anyway, time to put a plan in place. Cue Ariella. Conveniently, it is Ariella’s 21st birthday. Knowing Justin’s interest in Brenna, she agrees to let him throw her a 21st birthday “party” at his apartment. I say “party” as the guest list was a whopping four people. Ariella, Justin, Sam (our officiant), and Brenna… double yikes. Justin, Ariella, and Sam are all in on the plan and know this isn’t going to be a rager, while Brenna has no idea what she’s walking into. Still with me? Okay, now imagine you are Brenna arriving at your friend’s 21st birthday party. The door opens up and she is confused to see Justin standing there in a suit. Damn, I look good. Jazz music is playing in the background and there are only three other people at this party. What do you do? Run? Yeah, probably the best choice. For whatever reason, Brenna decided to stay. In fact, Brenna stayed roughly two hours later than Sam and Ariella. They spent the whole evening chatting about topics that now, neither can even remember. This party scheme should have never worked, but somehow it actually did. Over the next month Brenna and Justin would go on their first of many dates, getting to know each other and seeing if this could actually go somewhere. On May 29th, 2016 they officially started dating. I guess you could say that it did go somewhere.

(Golden) Flash forward, they moved in together, bought their first home in Lakewood, OH, both returned to Kent State for dual Master’s, supported each other through career changes, traveled to thirteen states and one country together, became aunt and uncle, and got engaged! Nine and a half years later, they are finally ready to tie the knot (took long enough). Thank you to everyone who has been there along the way and who will continue to be there in the coming chapters. I hope you enjoyed another overly detailed “Justin Story”. Apologies for any spelling mistakes that slipped through the cracks. Shout out to my editor, Brenna Berry. P.S. She did think I was cute in that PLT class.