It was Spring of 2018 and students were wrapping up another school year at the University of San Diego School of Law. As the semester came to a close, the daily struggle of classes was beginning to lessen and the bigger struggle of studying for finals was set to begin. To help break up the monotony that comes with attending law school, many of the on-campus clubs, organizations, and teams held their respective year-end celebrations at local restaurants and breweries throughout the greater San Diego area.

As a member of USD’s Mock Trial team, Janisa naturally decided that she would attend her team’s event at Dirty Bird’s in Liberty Station. A drink and some wings sounded like the perfect way to end another tedious day of classes. Word spread quickly on campus that Frankie DiGiacco, the Mock Trial head coach, would be opening up a tab at the bar for all in attendance. Although he was not part of the team, the open tab rumor immediately peaked Adrian’s interest and was all he needed to hear in order to make some spontaneous connections with Mock Trial team members and convince a few of his friends to join him in crashing the event.

From Adrian’s point of view, the plan was simple: crash the event and kick off the weekend with some free food and drinks before heading out to Pacific Beach for the night. While the plan was flawed, it did work—at least for a little bit. The problem with Adrian’s plan was that the longer he stayed, the more visible he became to those that were actually on the Mock Trial team. And while some members of the team started giving Adrian questionable looks, there were also a select few that couldn’t have cared less about Adrian’s presence at all. One of those team members was Janisa.

Unlike many of the others, Janisa was focused mainly on the free wings and tots. As Janisa drenched one of her wings in ranch and took another bite, Adrian pointed her out to one of his friends. Little did he know, Janisa had pointed Adrian out too. As Adrian stood there and wondered how to approach her, he took a sip of his free beer and walked over to introduce himself. They talked for a short time, exchanged eye contact throughout the evening, and continued eating and drinking on Frankie’s dime.

After going home, Adrian and Janisa quickly added each other on Instagram to stay connected. For several weeks, they would “secretly” organize group get togethers with mutual friends, or study on campus together and watch sunsets, overlooking the ocean, at the edge of USD’s campus during study breaks. Even though they began spending more and more time together, they played cat and mouse for a bit. Neither of them wanted to openly show their cards to the other, even though they both wanted to be together. Eventually, they couldn’t hide from the truth—they were perfect for each other. Complimentary to one another in every way and the balance that the other needed in their life. Days became months and months have now become years.

Who would’ve thought? A moment of opportunistic circumstances at Dirty Bird’s set the stage for a serendipitous encounter between Adrian and Janisa that has allowed them to create an endearing love story.