The story of how Nate and Brittany met is recounted differently, depending on who you ask. Many sleepless nights are spent scrutinizing the details of who “asked out” whom. Like two separate paths converging at the same oasis, the end result is the same and these details may be trifling. But this is Nate’s version so it’s the version you’re going to get. Nate and Brittany met in Hershey, PA. I know what you’re thinking...How did these two individuals manage to find true love in a place where the horizons are bounded by cow pasture in all directions. It must have been under the glittering lights at Hershey Park After Dark. If not that, then surely the chocolate rivers of the Hershey Chocolate Factory, enriched with romance. No, the beginning of Nate and Brittany’s love story began at a dive bar. Hershey is home to Penn State’s medical school and it’s where the two future lovebirds were first introduced. As with every med school, the class sizes are small so Nate and Brittany knew of each other’s existence but did not interact much until their fourth and final year of med school. In the same way that gravity pulls the moon the earth, their mutual interest in muscles, tendons and bones drew them...destined them...to take an orthopaedic surgery elective together. Every Thursday afternoon was reserved for didactics and to discuss cases from the week. Seated around a board room style conference table, the students in the class were supposed to be focused on the PowerPoint presentation, but Nate could not help but notice that Brittany was spending a suspicious amount of time staring at him. Perhaps just a coincidence, he continued listening to the lecture unperturbed. Yet over the following weeks, his eyes would lock her gaze from across that table and once again, Nate sensed that something more was going on. At the end of lecture, Nate and Brittany chatted innocently on their walk to the parking lot, as one does when making trivial small talk. This was the last week of the rotation and thus Brittany and her friends planned to go out to celebrate the following day. She asked Nate if he and his friends would like to join. Not wanting to be rude, he accepted the invitation. Nate awoke the next day, pondering the sequence of events. As much as he tried to convince himself otherwise, he could not appease the hunch that Brittany had feelings towards Nate. At first, Nate thought Brittany was just being polite. Her invitation could have been a simple courtesy as they moved on to their next rotations. He texted her later in the afternoon to ask where she was going out. She responded that she was going to Penn Hotel, one of the local dive bars. Although Brittany had told him to bring his friends, his instinct whispered that this was a date. So, he decided to follow his gut and went to the bar by himself. When Nate walked through the bar entrance, he knew instantly he had made the right decision. A few White Claws and several games of shuffle board later and this story could have been a Cole Swindel country song. If confronted about that fateful day, Brittany will deny any pretense about her mischievous behavior. She will claim that Nate had been pursuing her through an elaborate charade. Regardless of who’s version you believe to be true, that was Nate and Brittany’s last single Friday night.