During Freshman orientation at Oberlin College, it’s common to hear the somewhat shocking statistic that 50% of “Obies” marry other Obies. Jennifer remembers laughing thinking to herself, “there is no way that in this tiny town of Oberlin, Ohio at a college with less than 3,000 students, people can find the one.” Fast forward to fall of Sophomore year 2014 when Jennifer and Zach’s paths first crossed in their organic chemistry class. You might think that this is where we say, “and the rest is history!” but that’s not exactly how it played out. When Zach first introduced himself and said he was from the (greatest!!) state of Michigan, Jennifer didn’t believe him and merely thought he was trying to find common ground. Zach would frequently find his way over to Jennifer’s bench during organic chemistry lab and comment on how organized her lab notebook was or tease her about messing up her aspirin synthesis experiment. Jennifer quickly noticed Zach’s laid-back demeanor. While Zach walked painstakingly slow around campus, Jennifer power walked wherever she went. However....Zach woke up at 5am to study and was the first one to arrive to class, and Jennifer stayed up late cramming and ran into class at the last second. Jennifer took detailed, color-coded notes, while Zach sat back in class and barely picked up his pencil. Here began Zach’s 3-year quest for Jennifer’s heart. Though she might not have noticed it, Jennifer was definitely playing hard to get, and her thoughts always came back to Zach. What first seemed like big differences between them turned into the greatest partnership Jennifer could have ever dreamed of! Jennifer and Zach graduated from Oberlin in 2017 and continued their journey together back in Michigan. Jennifer pursued her dream of completing her PhD at the University of Michigan, and Zach completed PA school at the University of Detroit Mercy. Their partnership was tested by the stresses of completing their degrees during a global pandemic and being forced into Zoom school while sharing a small bedroom. Jennifer became an expert model patient for Zach to test her reflexes and vitals, and Zach could basically recite Jennifer’s PhD thesis project just as well as she could. This brought them closer together, and their relationship grew stronger. They persevered and have now begun their professional careers and settled into their first home together in the best town (or city…depends whom of the two you ask) of Ann Arbor. Over the years, Zach and Jennifer have explored nearly every restaurant in Ann Arbor, and found their shared passion for food and cooking. Luckily for Zach, who is clearly the more athletic of the two and crazy about basketball and ultimate frisbee, he has been able to teach Jennifer to decently throw a frisbee… a huge improvement from the atrocious throws she had when she started. On the other hand, Jennifer has always been pleasantly surprised by Zach’s rhythm and he has grown to love Venezuelan ballads just as much as she does (though she is still the better singer). Much of Jennifer and Zach’s time is spent visiting their families, eating Venezuelan food and dancing salsa, and (trying!) to be the coolest aunt and uncle to their adorable nieces and nephews. Now, after over 6 years together, and 9 years after our first encounter back in the small town of Oberlin, we are incredibly excited to take the next steps in our life together by becoming husband and wife! We are so fortunate to share this special day with all of you, and it warms our hearts to have our closest friends and family together to celebrate.