I met Luca on the first day of Freshman Orientation at ORU. She was, and still is, the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, so much so that I thought I didn't have any kind of chance with her. We chatted a little, I gave her a couple of school registration tips, likely stared at her for too long, and went on my way, never forgetting. Three months later, we found ourselves becoming close friends, mostly over the miseries of our chemistry final exam. This progressed into nonstop texting over Christmas break, and by the time the semester started, I had fully realized the depth of my interest. I started going to our professors' office hours when I knew she would be there. I went to the gym at the same time every night, knowing it was her schedule. It turned out she was doing the same, so I guess it worked well. On the last day of school, our freshman year, Luca and I went out to Lake Haskell in Tulsa, and I asked her to be my girlfriend. Two years, six months, and twenty-four days later, at the same lake, I asked her to be my wife.

I was sitting in my dad's office, reluctantly joining a Zoom meeting for incoming freshman biology students. Besides the professor (shoutout Dr. Tino), only one kid had his camera on. He had perfectly combed hair, smiled so much it was almost unsettling, and talked the entire time. I could tell he was smart—and probably attended a Christian high school. My dad joked that his parents were probably forcing him to keep his camera on (they weren’t), and then added, “You’ll definitely meet this kid—who knows, he might even be your future husband.” Five months later, I was at ORU, walking with my new friend Noel—now one of my bridesmaids and closest friends—across the lawn to meet other freshmen in our major after our first night on campus. We were the first ones to arrive, and as we stood there chatting, a blonde guy with perfect hair came walking over. I immediately recognize him as the boy from the Zoom meeting. He confidently shook Noel's and my hand and I remember thinking that I might have finally met someone as talkative as myself. He was wearing tennis shoes that looked exactly like the ones my grandpa wore and had somehow managed to mix three different shades of blue in his outfit—but everything else about him made up for it. We walked side by side around the Prayer Garden. I remember feeling a little sad when we were separated at the end of the tour. As the semester went on, Josh and I saw each other every Thursday for biology lab (shoutout Dr. Tino again). There wasn’t a class where he didn’t make me laugh, and I found myself looking forward to this class for reasons I didn’t quite understand at the time. Over Christmas break, my younger sister got annoyed with how often I was texting—and eventually figured out that a boy was taking up all my attention. When we came back for the next semester, I realized I was subconsciously planning my day around the chance that I might run into Josh—in the cafeteria, study rooms, even the gym. Thankfully, I later found out he was doing the exact same thing and I wasn't completely crazy. I’d never laughed so much around someone, and it was becoming pretty clear that I was in deep. A couple of weeks before the end of the semester, I went up to the Prayer Tower to pray about Josh—basically pleading that he might like me back. I eventually asked, “If he’s the one, just make it really clear.” I kid you not, five seconds later, Josh knocked on the door of the room. He's been right on time ever since.