I first met Gabby in 2014 when my mother and I were invited to Providence College to hear a spiel about the honors program and enjoy a catered meal. Unbeknownst to any of us, Gabby, her parents, and her brother were randomly paired to the same table as Mom and I. We exchanged some pleasantries about the IB program at our respective high schools, but that was it.

Fast forward to freshman year, and we're both in the same major (Global Studies). Due to some scheduling errors, we didn't actually share a class until the early spring, 2015. We don't interact much in that class, but I remember trying to learn her name, along with a few other new students who joined our cohort in the spring.

One night in mid-April 2015, PC upset Boston University with a comeback win in the NCAA Hockey Championship Game. The campus was electrified with school spirit and the superior smoothness of Burnett's Vodka. After celebrating with some friends on my floor, I decide to head to lower campus to join the mob of students partying in the streets adjacent to campus. Someone set a couch on fire and placed it in the middle of the road. Once the police and fire department arrived, everyone decided to move the party back to PC's main campus. On my walk back up the hill, I passed a gaggle of girls, of which Gabby was one of them. She stood out like a flamingo amongst penguins, as she towered over her friends. I called out to greet her, wanted to say something cordial, but failed to immediately recall her name. I said something to the effect of " Oh hey there uh, uh, Gabby, from global studies"

After a beat or two, she adopted a mocking tone full of venom and vitriol and responded with "Oh HeY tHeRe Uh uH Uh, aLeX" before walking off with her friends.

I was shocked and disappointed with her obscene behavior.

We started dating in August 2016 and now we're getting married.

- Alex

I would love to say that Alex and I first locked eyes across a crowded room, and when we saw each other, the world melted away. That it was a true love at first sight moment. Or a fireworks exploding kind of connection.

The truth is that we probably first locked eyes across a watery salad and stale bread at the Providence College Prospective Honors Student dinner in April 2014. Though we were seated at the same table, I honestly don’t remember much about Alex and that night, except that we exchanged stories about our experiences with the IB program. Naturally, I took it as an opportunity to complain about the IAs (throwback for all you IB kids out there), while Alex and his friend from high school bemoaned the upcoming exams. I remember strongly believing that the two Rhode Islanders at my table were dating. In the Fall of Freshman year, I scanned the campus for the happy couple. When I didn’t find them, I assumed they went to another school.

Little did I know, Alex was living 200 yards away from me in the infamous McDermont Hall. I wouldn’t cross paths with Alex again until the Spring of 2015, when we shared a Global Studies course together. It was hard not to notice Alex in that class. He was the only male in a sea of women – a real affliction for him, I’m sure. He was also opinionated, bitingly sarcastic, and unabashed in his bluntness (Who? Alex?! No!). Though I was initially offput by his sarcasm and directness, I was also probably intimidated by his passion and intelligence, two characteristics I prided myself on. My floormate (turned bridesmaid) also shared an Arabic class with Alex. We immediately bonded over our mutual distaste for his know-it-all ways, and brusque attitude. Ugh, Alex Pollan, the worst.

On the night the PC Hockey Team won the national championship, there may, or may not, have been an incident where Alex tried to say hi to me on the street. Alex will tell you that I responded in a “mocking” tone and “brushed him off.” I can neither confirm nor deny this interaction. Only the omniscient can tell you what really happened on that evening. I will say, it sounds like something a younger, haughtier Gabby would do.

Fast forward to the end of Sophomore year. I managed to avoid Alex for almost a full calendar year, save Spring Break in Ireland and a one-day global studies retreat (don’t ask Alex about the night before). That June, we headed off to South Africa for a Global Service Learning trip at the University of Cape Town. Despite my earlier prejudices and conviction that Alex Pollan was a dirty scoundrel with few redeeming qualities, I discovered that I *may* have been over-villainizing Alex in my head. We bonded over our shared desire to live abroad, fond memories of the IB program (it returns!), and general love of good wine. After we returned Stateside, Alex slid into my DMs, wanting to show me a “photo” he “took” on the trip that he “thought” I would be “interested” in. As they say, the rest is history.

One year of long-distance, five trans-continental moves, two bachelor’s degrees, three master’s degree, thirteen jobs, twenty-two countries, one global pandemic, forty plants, one cat, and eight years later, we’re getting married.

-Gabby