The summer between our freshman spring and sophomore fall we each joined a group chat of 400 people in search of peers staying for the summer session. Snapchat (a popular social media app) was at its height and group Snapchatting had just launched. One of the group organizers, our now-good-friend, Arden, put 15 of us in a Snapchat group. Patrick asked Julia if she wanted to start a Snap-streak, a big move for nineteen-year-olds in 2017. After a month of passing selfies back and forth, we finally decided to meet at the library. We were each fairly nervous. We skipped the shy stage and jumped into friendship, making fun of each other and laughing at stupid jokes.

Nearly six years later, we traveled to Europe for the first time together. On our second day in Lake Como Patrick had arranged for us to see the Villa del Balbianello, a picturesque 12th-century villa straight out of a fairy tale, you may recognize the location from Star Wars and James Bond. In the morning we took the ferry across the sparkling lake to the village of Lenno. We followed cobblestone streets passed bistros and gelaterias to the base of a small wooded mountain that is home to the villa. After a short trek up, we made our way through the historic estate, flowers greeting us at every turn. After some exploring, we took in the views from the main balcony overlooking the lake. “Selfie?,” Pat asked. He turned, raising his phone high in the air, signaling to a hidden photographer. “You can’t see me in the photo,” Julia said confused. Patrick put his phone away and took both of Julia’s hands and got down on one knee. We can’t share with you what he said, mostly because emotion and adrenaline won’t allow us to recount the story in an organized or chronological fashion. What we know is there was reminiscing on our shared past, dreams of our shared future, a dazzling ring, and the big question - to which Julia could not wait to say ”YES!”