It was late September 2018. Fresher's week had only just begun at the University of Aberystwyth, and the international students had all gathered in the Student's Union building for the first time. Neither one of us had planned on the chance encounter that occurred that day, but it was the start of a completely new chapter in both our lives. After meeting whilst mingling with other students, both of us stayed behind long after almost everyone else had left, chatting and joking around, kindling the spark that was soon to come. We bumped into each other in a local pub by chance later in the week and, after a few witty quips about American Football were bandied around, got to texting each other very regularly afterwards.

Following on from a few date-not-dates over several days, and an emotional movie night watching Spiderman disintegrate, we officially considered ourselves dating on the 4th of October, 2018. We went on to have an amazing year of university together full of travel, adventure and several memorable nights out.

Following the end of our year at Aber(ystwyth) together, coupled with an amazing summer spent visiting Spain and the US, we had to say our first round of many goodbyes and embark upon the journey of a long distance relationship. The extreme difficulties of which are too numerous to count. However, despite the challenges in maintaining a relationship across a six hour time zone difference whilst both being preoccupied with studies and work, we made it work. Whether through multiple hours worth of calls, to playing games together, watching movies and texting together, we endured.

Long distance also allowed for surprises to happen that aren't possible within a normal relationship, such as when Danielle flew all the way out to Australia to surprise Niall with a visit for a few weeks. The intricate planning of said surprise is still impressive to this date! Nevertheless, we spent the subsequent three and a half years of our relationship doing back and forth travel. Attempting to find time to visit and travel whenever either one of us could. This was until July of 2022...

In the summer of 2022, we went on a slightly different trip to normal. During a week long stay at a resort in the Dominican Republic, amidst the sun, sea and sand, we became officially engaged. It was then that we knew we were approaching the start of a new and brighter part of our lives together. A few short months later, we formally submitted our paperwork to begin the process of bringing Niall over to the USA to marry and live with Danielle for the rest of our lives.

Now, at long last, we are approaching the end of our long distance journey and look forward to spending a very, very long time in each other's company. We invite all of you who are reading this to also attend and witness as our love finally sees us through to the light at the end of the tunnel!