Spring 2018 started like every other semester in college, a life of little sleep, lots of coffee, Ramen noodles, a backpack as heavy as oneself. Never, ever did I think that out of all my classes, Physics 2 and all its laws would be the one that soon would change my whole world forever. Let's be honest, I was not the best physics student. Coming from an engineering family, physics came easy to me, so most of the time I would skip class and do my learning outside the classroom. But one day, for a change, I woke up and decided to attend class. Like the great physics student I was, I, of course, arrived late. By then everyone was already seated and the professor was teaching. On my awkward walk to the back of the room, looking to see where my friends were sitting, my eyes redirected themselves to a student sitting just a few rows in front of them. There she was, wearing all black and a hat looking at the board and taking notes. And let me tell you, in that very moment it felt as I was hit with all the laws of the universe, at once. My eyes fixated on her, like opposite sides of a magnet, my heart accelerated as if I was skydiving, yet gravity made every step that I took heavier, slower, and time stopped existing. It probably did not take me more than 5 seconds before I walked past her and towards my friends. But in those 5 seconds I knew, I knew what I wanted, and I knew that any chance of learning anything in class that day was lost. As soon as I sat next to my friend, Casey, I immediately asked him if he knew her, he told me no but that he saw her in the library almost every day. I spent the rest of the day planning my move. So for the next few weeks instead of going to my usual study spot, I went to the library after class with Casey. My goal was to sit a few tables away but within her eyesight hoping that she would notice me so the day I approached her, I would not be just another random guy. Let me tell you, that idea failed miserably as she was too busy studying.

My plan continued to unknowingly "fail" until the evening of April 24th, 2018. Instead of celebrating my birthday, I decided to head to the library to study for the physics exam we had the next day as I knew she would also be there. I pulled a whiteboard over and began explaining to a few classmates a little about refraction, reflection, mirrors all that super entertaining stuff everyone loves. Not long after, she came towards us, pulled a chair, and sat with us. I froze and my mind panicked for a second. This is it Cris, this is it, don't make a fool of yourself. Nonetheless, I continued to explain for the next few minutes until my sister Andrea called me as she was picking me up for dinner. Confession, I did take this opportunity to show off my Spanish skills, though. Anyway, I proceeded to pack my stuff. Right before heading out, I extended my hand and said "by the way, my name is Cris". Best birthday ever. So for the next week, I continued to show up at the library trying to find an opportunity to sit by her. One morning, I went early to the library, and about an hour later she arrived and sat at the table right next to me. "This is it", I told myself. She was by herself and sitting at the table next to me. Listen, my mind and body have always worked very well together but on that day they refused to communicate for at least what felt like 30 minutes. My mind was telling my body to stand up and my body simply ignored it. Finally, they made up, I stood up approached her, and asked if I could join her. She accepted and so I did. Never again did I feel nervous. For the rest of the day, we continued to talk, tell stories, jokes, laugh, and get to know each other. We were there to study but did not get past the first page. We just clicked, it felt natural, normal, as if we knew each other already. I used physics homework as an excuse to get her number and from that day on we continued to text every day.

For the next week, we continued to talk and actually study at the library. Every time I got to know her more and more. The more I knew her the stronger my feelings became. It was as if she was everything I was looking for and more. As If she was like me but better in every aspect, well except Spanish...for now. My heart was sold. It had been a little over a month since I first saw her, around 2 weeks since I extended my hand and introduced myself, and around a week from when I sat next to her. I knew, that this beautiful amazing person was the one I would live the rest of my life with. Sure there are always the unknowns, but something inside me was telling me not to worry, as all would work out just fine. So on May 2nd, I texted her asking if she could meet me in person as I wanted to ask her something. She agreed and so after an exam, we met outside the library on a bench. There is where I asked her, "Would you like to go on a date with me?". She responded "no" paused for a second and followed up with a "well, not no just not now". Yet I did not feel rejection, it was as if I knew, but she didn't know it just yet... She was mine, and I was hers. I mean, my timing was not the best, I asked her just as final's week was starting. The last thing she wanted was a distraction but I had to act fast as summer started the week after that. Anyway, even though she said "no" we continued to sit, talk and laugh for several hours on that same bench outside the library until I asked if she wanted to grab a coffee by the Union. We both got White Chocolate Mochas and continued to hang out until the day was over. For the next week, we continued to text and see each other here and there when finals permitted. On May 9th, 2018, after our last final, she asked me if I still wanted to have that date. Exhausted, tired, and drained from finals, we went to a little yellow building with the best tacos in Denton. You had to order in Spanish, that's how you know they were good.

Even though we only knew each other for a few weeks, I was sold and convinced that in front of me I have the most amazing woman in the world. She is smart, funny, interesting, kind, respectful, loving among many many more things. But there was one last test she needed to pass. As you know, when you choose your partner for life, it becomes "You two vs the World". Life will throw everything it has at you two so I had to make sure that no matter how crazy, awkward, or the embarrassing moments we faced were, that we would be able to push through with a smile on our face. So I decided to follow up on an idea a friend told me once. Take her to a thrift store and before you go in tell her that you will be picking out her outfit, and she will be picking out yours. After, we were both going to go grab something to eat at a restaurant wearing those same outfits. If she does not laugh and have fun then she is not the right one. I mean how bad can it be right? So on June 9th, 2018 I asked her on a date, took her to our local thrift store, and told her about the rules. Well, let me tell...it got out of control too quickly, too fast. I think it all started when she saw me pick up a purple bicycle helmet... oops. And yes I have taken the liberty to add some of the pictures for your entertainment. As you will see we looked fabulous for a lack of a better word. To make it more interesting or painful, however you want to look at it, I took her to one of the busiest outdoor shopping centers to make sure we had one of the funniest days we've had. She laughed, laughed, and laughed and we just had so much fun. Did I forget to tell you they had a live concert, where we became the center of attention where a professional photographer took a bunch of pictures of us? Yes, fun night. That same night I asked her to be my girlfriend and with her humor, she said no...well not no, but not now, followed by some laughter and a yes, of course, yes.

In the Spring of 2018, I was determined to make straight A's and I was not going to be distracted. However, as many of my classmates know, you could always rely on me bringing a cup of coffee to class on the few days I did show up and watching my eyes close and my head slump over in thirty-second intervals as I would fight the urge to fall asleep. Physics was especially dull and a subject I was not interested in whatsoever. I had no interest in going to class and most of the time I studied outside of the classroom instead. On the days I did show up I would wear a cap in hopes the professor couldn't see my eyes closing. In my physics lab, I met Sameer, one of my favorite people to hang out with. I had been balancing many classes and realized it was the day before our next Physics exam. I knew nothing about lenses and mirrors and while I was sitting there studying in Willis library absolutely lost on the subject, I saw Sameer and a group of guys studying physics. I went over in the hopes of retaining some info on the subject. As soon as I walked over, there was a tall white guy in a blue t-shirt talking about lenses and mirrors as if he was a professor. Obviously he knew a thing or two, but my skepticism kicked in and I questioned how he knew that and where he got the info from. He explained calmly and I was glad to have finally learned something about it. The guy then answered the phone and started speaking Spanish, and in the back of my mind, I was thinking "look at this white guy trying to show off his Spanish. But dang he's pretty good." (I know I am full of myself apparently because I am not even fluent in Spanish.) He hung up the phone and introduced himself to me, "by the way, my name is Cris", then he left. I spoke with the other guys for a bit then headed back to my table where I was sitting with Cassendra. I sat down and said "Dang that white guy speaks really good Spanish", and to my surprise, she said, "Well yeah he is Mexican. He is in my Med-Bac class."

The next time I was in the library I sat down, started studying and I saw him sitting at a table next to mine. You see many of the times I sat and studied in the library guys found it as an opportunity to approach me. They would try to get to know me, ask for my number and the whole time I would be sitting there thinking to myself "okay, but I need to study." Apparently these events were quite entertaining to Cassendra, my study partner, even though she wasn't a fan when it would happen to her. As I was sitting there prepared to study, he walked over and asked to sit down with me. I saw the same nervous look I saw in all the guys' eyes and thought "here we go again." The joke's on me. He sat down with his Mexico soccer jersey, cap, and glasses on (he has 20/20 vision by the way, which I found to be hilarious later on). He told me he had the answers to a couple of things for physics and could send them to me. Although I knew he was trying to get my number, I did need those answers. Little did I know I would eventually know that number by heart. We began talking and joking around and all of a sudden I realized this guy was not how I thought he would be. Cassendra sat down with us and we began talking, joking, and for a minute we had him convinced that Geni (my little sister) was my daughter. Many times guys would struggle to follow my humor and keep up with my conversations and jokes, but he got every single one. I was intrigued. As Cassendra and I left the library later, we said bye to him and she looked at me and said "Y'all are going to get married." I rolled my eyes, laughed, and said "whatever!" Again, the joke's on me. We began texting on and off for a while. The next time I saw him in the library he had cut his hair, trimmed his beard and I could actually see his face (no cap, no glasses). I had said "he is cute when you can see his face" and Cassendra again mentioned that we would get married. I even had Amany come to the library just to see how cute he was.

One day he asked me to meet him outside the library on a bench because he wanted to ask me something. I got nervous. As I walked over, there he was reading a book. When I sat down, he asked me "Can I take you out on a date sometime?" I began thinking about how I needed the A's and couldn't get distracted before finals. So, I said "No. Well, not no, just not now." We talked about how maybe we could get a cup of coffee one day. I was very impressed that he actually asked me out. I was so used to the usual "we should hang out sometime." He seemed relaxed and somehow our conversation went from him asking me out to a million different topics. An hour or two later, Sameer walked by with a cup of coffee, said hi, then went to the library to study. The coffee appealed to my inner caffeine addict. Cris looked at me and asked if I wanted to get that cup of coffee. I looked at the library knowing I should study, but I looked back at him and said yes. We walked to the coffee shop and got our coffees and we continued talking, joking, and getting to know each other. He took me to the rooftop garden on top of the business building and we sat on another bench talking for hours. We walked back to the library and then we left shortly after. We probably spent about eight hours just talking that day and no studying was done. At one point Sameer told me that he had told his friend that we would date. I wondered how he knew and he said that with our personalities, it just made sense. It seemed as though everyone knew except for me, but the more I got to know him, the more it made sense. We kept seeing each other here and there and then after finals we decided to go on that date and we went to a little yellow shack with the best tacos in Denton. After a while, I realized that this is the man I would marry. He is everything I ever wanted, and better than I could have ever imagined. Although it seems that I was the last to know, he had me since the very beginning; I just had to catch up.