Going into our senior year of high school, I got a notification from a certain Natalie Wilcox. We had a class together the previous year, but I was still surprised to see her reach out. After talking for a bit, I knew I had a huge crush on her. She was pretty, funny, full of energy, and so kind that we quickly hit it off. After flirting with each other in some group settings, we started to hang out together one-on-one and hit it off even more. I eventually asked her out and after a few dates, we became official. High school was filled with shopping mall dates, study dates, and lots and lots of car dates. Whenever I would introduce her to friends and family, there was one consistent phrase they would all say: “She’s a keeper,” and I could not have agreed more. As we prepared for college, there was a lot of uncertainty for the future. We both loved each other, but were scared of all the horror stories of long distance dating. After one of the last dates before she moved to UCLA, we sat in my truck and talked about what we were going to do to make this thing work. I knew I wanted to marry her well before this moment, but she said one thing that gave me confidence that we would be married one day: “You know I’m a planner. You’re my plan.” To this day, I recall that moment to remember how lucky I am. We had also talked about how Natalie wanted to marry someone who was a Christian and I thank God that she was patient enough for that to become a reality. He truly was working in my heart to make His plan of Natalie and I being together forever a reality. During long distance, our time was mainly spent through FaceTime calls and many dinner dates watching Disney movies or The Office or Friends. We learned very quickly the importance of intentional time together and still do our best to keep that true today. Being at community college meant my days felt very long and dull, but seeing Natalie’s face and hearing her voice at the end of the day made it all worth it. I hadn’t quite figured out a plan for school, but I knew I was going to do whatever it took to be as close to Natalie as possible. Thankfully, the Lord gave me motivation to study hard and bless me with the opportunity to transfer to UCLA. I think she was more excited than I was when we got the news too. At the same time, He had drawn me to church through my cousin (and best man) Eli Sabbagh, showing me His love and grace. Eventually, I had come to the realization that I believed in Jesus and wanted to devote my life to following Him. Once I had gotten to UCLA, Natalie and I did not leave each others’ side. Being apart for essentially two years, we were making up for what felt like lost time. She then introduced me to RUF, establishing my community on campus very early on. We also started going to Cornerstone church together, which we fell in love with instantly. And a little after a year at UCLA, two years of long-distance, and a tad over four years together, I finally proposed to the love of my life. I often tell Natalie if it weren’t for her, I would have no clue what my life would look like now. I don’t know what my faith, school, friends, aspirations, and self-perception would look like without her. I thank God every day for blessing me with Natalie and I cannot wait to see where we end up next.

I met Riley junior year of high school in my precalculus class. He sat behind me, next to my friend who played water polo with me. I would turn around and talk to her and say hi to him. I remember thinking he was kind and calm. A few months later, in July, my sister stole my phone and started snapping some guys as a joke. She knew Riley from track and field, so she snapped him. I didn’t end up talking to any of those guys again, but I did keep talking to Riley. He quickly became my good friend. We started talking and facetiming, and I began developing feelings for him. Still, I was hesitant. I was about to leave for college and had planned to spend my senior year single, just enjoying time with my friends. After conversations with our mutual friend, Grace Murphy-Cook, I realized the feelings were mutual. I was still worried the timing wasn’t good, and even though I wasn’t in a good place with my faith, I struggled with the fact that Riley wasn’t a Christian. But the more time we spent together, the more we liked each other, and we eventually ended up sharing a slightly awkward first kiss (ask us for the story sometime). We started dating, and about a year later I left for UCLA while Riley stayed home to attend community college. We were both scared, hesitant, and unsure if our relationship would last. Thankfully, we survived on teleparty movie nights, facetime calls, and not enough visits. My favorite part of Riley and I’s story is our journey with faith. At the beginning of sophomore year, I was really struggling and ended up going to a Christian fellowship at UCLA called RUF (Reformed University Fellowship). At the same time, Riley began attending church with his cousin, Eli Sabbagh. As I started growing in my faith, I worried Riley wouldn’t feel the same. But after some awkward conversations, I was overjoyed to learn that he did. When Riley applied to UCLA, we tried not to think too much about how amazing it would be to be just a walk away from each other. We were thrilled when he got in and found out he would be coming to UCLA. At the start of junior year, I brought Riley to RUF. He has grown in his faith so much since then it's been incredible to see. After a couple of hard years of community for Riley, I was so happy to see him making incredible friends. We both went to Cornerstone for the first time at the beginning of junior year and immediately fell in love with the church. RUF and Cornerstone have been amazing blessings in both of our lives. It became even sweeter when Riley shared that he was considering doing the RUF Internship after graduation. Since then, it's been an amazing year and a half. We celebrated our 4 year anniversary this August and started talking about the possibility of getting married earlier than we had anticipated. It was scary at first, but with so much support, especially from the Kang family, we started realizing it could be a reality. Riley proposed December 6, 2025. It's been a joy to see what an incredible man of God Riley has grown into. I feel so privileged to be able to marry him, and I couldn’t be more excited to spend the rest of my life with my best friend and future husband.