John and Maria met during their freshman year at Oberlin College. While it is known that Oberlin has an above average rate of couples who end up together (some say as high as 60% of Obies marry other Obies), neither Maria nor John went to the corn fields of Ohio looking for love. One fateful night Maria ran into a mutual friend while leaving her dorm, who said Maria "had to meet" her friend John. The rest is history. After a year doing long distance, John followed Maria to Chicago. Seven and a half years later, they call Chicago home with their (proportionally tiny) dog Mickie.