I desperately had to study for my history exam, and I needed all the help I could get. Even though I was struggling with my faith at that time I thought, "Maybe if I study at the Catholic Center, God will help me out. Plus, it's a relatively quiet place." So, I went to study at the KSU Catholic Center - something I had never done before. I sat down, and a few moments later, I got my first distraction. A random guy sat in front of me. We introduce ourselves, talk a little bit about music, and then he leaves. "Ok, Nayeli. No more distractions. You really need to focus." A few moments later, I got my second distraction. Another random guy sat in front of me. We introduced ourselves, talked a little bit about music, but this guy does not leave. I'm itching to get back to my 3-hour YouTube video that wouldn't have given me an A if I watched it 1,000 times. Before I knew it, it was nighttime, and this guy was playing the guitar for me in the chapel. We exchanged numbers and plan to hang out again. We hang out again, and again, and again, and again. Very quickly, we started hanging out every day. I felt like I might be leading this guy on, so I eventually had to be blunt: "I don't want to date you." He said there was nothing to worry about. A little over 2 months later, I received an invitation to go to a Galentine's party. On the invitation, it read, "Single Ladies ONLY." I pointed it out to the guy sitting next to me, asking him if I should go. He said, "Are you single?" I said, "I don't know... Am I?" That day, 02/06/2020, Hector and I started dating. Early on in our relationship, Hector and I went on a date to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. After our date, he told me, “I love you.” I was in shock and didn’t know how to respond. All I could muster up was a thank you and a hug. When I went home, I thought about what happened on our date, and I realized that I couldn’t imagine not spending every day with him. The next day, after meeting his parents for the first time, I said, “I love you too.”

During my sophomore year, I spent a lot of time at Kennesaw State University’s Catholic Center. One day, as my friend and I were leaving the parking lot, I saw this cute girl walking to her next class. I had never seen her before, and without consulting my friend, I rolled down my car window to offer her a ride to class. She accepted, we briefly chatted, but we never exchanged names. Fast forward to December 2019, during finals week. I finished my finals early, so it was a slow time for me. I decided to hang out at the Catholic Center one afternoon, even though I did not have anything school-related going on. That afternoon, I came in and sat next to that same friend that I was driving with months ago. He mentioned to me that the girl he had just spoken to seemed to have similar music tastes and personality traits to me, and he encouraged me to talk to her. I looked over, and she seemed to be (sort of) studying. Regardless, I thought I would briefly introduce myself to her. She gave me the impression that she did not want to stop talking. We spent that time talking about our interests, lives, and goals. Afternoon turned into evening, and we were gently nudged out of the Catholic Center. We closed the night in the Catholic Center’s chapel, which I now think about fondly. The test that she resolutely studied for was over, and our calendars opened up to see each other again. We then found ourselves spending every day together. She told me one day that she was not interested in dating me, and this was ok, as I genuinely enjoyed being her friend. At the end of January, she and I went out with a couple we knew. This outing subtly changed something in our relationship, and I began to wonder if I did have romantic feelings for her. A couple of weeks later, she started talking about a Galentine’s event for single ladies. In that moment, I spontaneously decided to ask Nayeli to be my girlfriend. It just felt right.

There was a grand celebration for Mr. Hector’s deaconate ordination. All of his closest friends and family were there, including my parents. Hector and I were talking to them when we saw their eyes wander. A couple approached our table and began talking to my parents as if they were old friends. Hector and I sat in confusion and disbelief. They explained that they were our family’s old next-door neighbors and that their son, Rigo, was my good childhood friend. Rigo is the friend from our stories who introduced Hector and me. Now, he is Hector’s best man. Later, Hector and I also discovered that we were baptized at the same church, we read at the same library, played at the same parks, and ate at the same restaurants. There were a lot of ways that we crossed paths without realizing it, just as that first day when Hector picked me up on the way to class. Now we thank God for bringing us together at the perfect time. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)