Many of you have believed in this relationship since before it even began. I still remember you joking about attending our wedding when Jon and I were simply friends. It feels surreal to write about our relationship now, as it only confirms what so many of you always knew: that the friendship Jon and I have will last a lifetime.

As I entered my physics discussion class during the fall of 2019 at the University of Florida, I knew I wanted to make a new friend in the course. I scanned the faces of my classmates and decided to sit next to a boy who seemed nice enough. During the first in-class assignment we introduced ourselves and I learned that his name was Jon. We worked and joked together every week, meeting up to study at the library and sitting together during lecture (where I nudged Jon awake every 10 minutes). Through time spent together studying and commiserating about our mutual inability to understand the basic laws of physics, Jon and I formed a friendship. Our time together in the library quickly morphed into other activities as I began attending Jon’s fraternity’s parties and later recruited him to join the beekeeping club. As we grew even closer, the pandemic forced everyone back home, but we kept in touch and reconnected in-person at the beginning of our senior year. Unable to use university facilities like before and craving social interaction, we began spending even more time together, attending Zoom classes at each other’s places and gathering a small group together at my apartment on the weekends to socialize. As the school year progressed, we became inseparable.

With the end of our college careers quickly approaching, our post-graduate plans threatened to take us in different directions. I applied to PhD programs, received rejection emails from every single one, and Jon consoled me as I cried through each loss. My future became uncertain as I planned to study monkeys in Peru, not knowing how much time I would spend in the Amazon for my first year out of school. Jon was preparing to commission in the Air Force and begin flight training in Pensacola shortly after I left. The real snag in our plans was when we realized that our friends had been right all along – we wanted to be together. After a night fueled by many beers and a mutual confession of our feelings, we reassessed our relationship and, to everyone’s dismay, decided to remain friends. Why mess with a good thing?

Our last summer in Gainesville quickly became the best summer of our lives. I worked in a lab and Jon finished up his final classes, but we squeezed in as much time together as possible. We saved a baby bird, canoed down Silver Springs, visited Niceville, Tampa, and the Keys, and even went skydiving. As the summer inevitably ended, we said teary-eyed and heartfelt goodbyes over ice cream. I cried for the entire 2-hour drive back home, angry with the world for forcing me to leave Jon behind. I left for Peru but was able to return to Florida for the holidays, so Jon and I visited each other every chance we could. It was during one of these trips to Pensacola that, after applying to PhD programs for the second time, I had been accepted to my top choice. I think Jon was even more excited than I was, and we agreed to start dating the very next day. We knew that I was not yet finished conducting field work in Peru. We also knew that, while I would soon move to California, Jon would be stuck in Pensacola. What we knew most of all was that we wanted to be together.

With our real long-distance relationship beginning, I finished up my field work and traveled to Pensacola whenever I could. I helped Jon study for exams and listened to him explain flight plans, never understanding a word. I cheered alongside Jon’s family as he successfully ran a 100-mile ultramarathon, and 1 week later I moved to California. We said heartfelt goodbyes and, once again, I cried as I drove away, although this time I had my dad to console me. Jon and I visited each other every couple of months and realized how easy long distance can be if you’re with the right person. After 2 and a half years of living on opposite sides of the country, Jon helped me prepare for my first field season in Congo while secretly planning to ask for my parents’ blessing while I was away. He greeted me back in Davis when I returned and drove my parents, sister, and me to Lake Tahoe for a weekend trip. It was there that he took me on a sunset hike, knelt down, and asked me to marry him. He explained to me that, whether we’re on opposite sides of the world or enjoying a morning cup of coffee side-by-side, he wants nothing more than to love and support me for the rest of our lives. Nodding my head yes as Jon knelt across from me, I reflected on how incredibly fortunate I am to have chosen to sit next to the boy in physics class that seemed “nice enough.”

A&J

Wedding Day