There are two sides to every story. In ours, this was no different. During the first week of under-grad in the Summer of 2009 (yes, that long ago), Sam grabbed Mike’s attention during sand volleyball. Her striking smile, laughter and joy amidst floundering for the ball was contagious. Mike saw in that moment that while Sam may not earn a scholarship for sand volleyball, she had a glow about her that he could not ignore. If one questions Sam, she does not recall meeting Mike that day. He had more work to do, and fortunately found his way into her conscious during weekly Thursday night screenings of “The Office” in the basement of Farley Hall. While Sam occupied herself with a puzzle alone during one specific show, Mike sought to prove he was the missing piece. After a year and a half of friendship, timing allowed that to happen. Ever since, across miles, job changes, and graduations, one thing has remained true: Sam and Mike’s story continues.

Sam is currently enjoying her first year at Biotech Logic as a Technical Operations Senior Consultant. She has loved taking advantage of the international exposure while forming strong relationships with many great biotech clients. She has found a passion for fitness with barre and yoga but is missing her tennis community in Boston. Mike has entered his fifth and final year of his Orthopaedic Surgery residency at the University of Illinois-Chicago. He is already growing nostalgic with the amazing memories and friends made during this time. He is still trying to learn the guitar-needs more work. We are planning to travel to Ireland and Sicily for our honeymoon in late August. Hoping to catch the ND-Navy game in Dublin, followed by taking in the sights and foods of Italy. We plan on spending 10 days abroad. We will be moving from Chicago in July 2024 heading down south to Nashville, TN. Mike will complete his Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery fellowship at Vanderbilt University over the course of the following year. We are both very excited to explore a new city--and have a milder winter!