Alexander “Alex” Hoang and Gracie “Gray” Hutchison met on February 2nd, 2020 at Barnes and Noble in West Lafayette, IN after arranging the date online. They spent the day browsing books, looking at collectibles at the mall, and strolling around Purdue’s campus while making light conversation to get to know one another. By February 9th, the two made their relationship official.

On March 23rd, Indiana began a “stay-at-home” order due to COVID-19, and the two stayed in touch through Snapchat images, showing each other the ways they were both passing the time during the lockdown. They were able to see one another quite a few more times once the stay-at-home order was lifted before they began long-distance.

In August of 2020, Alex and Gray began going to two different schools 100 miles apart – a 4 hour drive round trip. The two would maintain this distance for nearly 2 years, the 100 miles dropping to 30 during summers. Despite the distance, they were able to play games, watch movies, and have quality time and conversations, talking on the phone together multiple times everyday.

They moved into an apartment together in May of 2022; originally a temporary arrangement for the summer, Gray transferred to Purdue University in June, and the living situation became more permanent. On July 5th, 2022, Alex proposed to Gray in front of the Engineering Fountain on Purdue’s Campus; obviously, the answer was yes!

I was born April 18th, 1999 to parents Hanh Luu and Cuong Hoang. I am the oldest of six children (three boys and three girls): Andrew, Anthony, Alicia, Andrea, and Angelina Hoang. I grew up in Dunwoody, GA and graduated from Dunwoody High School in 2017. Currently, I am a graduate student at Purdue University studying Automation Engineering; I got my bachelor’s degrees from Purdue University in Mechanical Engineering in Technology and Robotics Engineering in Technology. I enjoy playing card games, board games, and video games. My favorite activity we do is just existing next to each other as we each do our own separate task. I just enjoy spending time with Gray.

I was born January 25th, 2002 to parents Brooke and Brandon Hutchison. I’m the second oldest of four girls: Kora, Ellie, and Lincoln Hutchison. I grew up in Crawfordsville, IN and graduated from Crawfordsville High School in 2020. I’m a student at Purdue University studying environmental geoscience with hopes of getting into a Master’s program for either hydrology or climatology. I spend a lot of my free time playing rhythm games, making new crochet creations, and writing and playing music. One of my favorite things to do with Alex is just driving around town, listening to music, and talking about whatever comes to mind.