We're getting married! Celebrate with us!

Vet school is not the usual place people go to meet their significant others. Normally becoming an animal doctor is a unique combination of long hours in labs, grueling tests, and lonely days buried in books. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to find each other in all of the madness and stress. We met in the foyer of the veterinary school building in the fall of my first year a few days before a major anatomy exam. I was quite late to a dinner meeting for one of our school’s clubs. My intention was to scarf down a quick dinner while catching the tail end of this meeting. Instead, a different meeting absorbed my attention. We made eye contact over the barely still-warm food, both with sheepish grins finding ourselves alone with a whole buffet. As I turned to head off to the auditorium and the speaker presenting, I heard a soft voice behind me say, “You know, we can eat out here if you want.” It was the best meeting I have ever attended. As we talked, I realized this lovely person was bursting with smarts, quick with laughs, and full of joy. We got to know each other over the next few months in quick 10 minute coffee breaks between classes and shortened evening dates where a looming exam or some other onerous task called us apart. But as I learned ever more about Nicole; her dedication to family, the way she cared for others, her overwhelming brains, her dedicated and inspiring work ethic, I realized I’d fallen head over heels for her. Fortunately those short meetings turned into months of dating. Then in October 2020, I took a knee beside a waterfall in the sun-dappled mountains of Tennessee and Nicole said “Yes.” I would not be where I am today without Nicole’s support and I am positive I will never achieve whatever my future holds without her. Nicole amazes me and makes me proud every day. I stand in awe of her and am blessed beyond my deserving to have her in my life.