We sat just three seats apart in the front row of our freshman year Making of the Modern Mind class in the fall, but in spite of ending up in the same group of friends, we rarely spoke to each other and never thought much of it.

So we were both surprised to find ourselves having a phone call the following summer that lasted nearly five hours. What began as a seemingly random impulse in reaction to similar relational situations we found ourselves in, led to the beginning of a friendship. Each of us felt that we had discovered a channel of God's deep and abiding peace.

Our friendship deepened over the course of the fall semester, and we spent increasingly more time together and came to depend on each other for encouragement. In December, Luke announced, “I have feelings for you and want to pursue you,” and on Valentine’s Day, Mina said yes to a date at Barnes and Noble.

Dating was new to both of us and especially intimidating to Mina, who would have liked to be sure about wanting to get married before ever getting into a relationship. Yet in spite of fear and uncertainty, our eyes were on marriage from the very beginning. We weren’t perfect, but we found ourselves better and stronger together as we learned from each other and sought to together trust God more and more. Thanks to Luke’s deep patience and Mina’s stubborn persistence, our relationship endured various challenges and uncertainty as we tried to understand what being in love meant and how our dreams and ambitions could complement each other. We prayed for God’s guidance and wisdom, and we prayed that he would grant us what we wanted most—to be together for the rest of our lives. And just when it seemed that we would never receive a clear answer, dawn broke and lighted our path. Fittingly, it was spring. Inconveniently, it was right before finals.

Luke intentionally dropped hints that he was proposing—not that it would have been a surprise, as we had picked out a ring together a few weeks prior following yet another Barnes and Noble date. Oddly enough, we were both nervous as he drove to an arboretum after church. Neither of us knew what to expect from the other. Yet somehow, it was perfect. We climbed the tower that looked out over the trees, Luke proposed beautifully, and Mina said yes from her heart with no hesitation but with many tears at the realization of a long-awaited hope. We shared our first kiss, which we had saved for our engagement, and took in the moment for a long time before descending.

Now engaged, we proceeded to the chaos of finals week, following which one or two grades displayed the lack of focus on studying during that time. It didn’t matter—we had everything we ever wanted, and we graduated together and moved on to the final stage of our relationship before getting married in spring 2025. It would be a much longer period of long distance than we’d ever had before, but it would allow Luke time to work at his job in Washington DC, and Mina time to finish the first year of grad school in chemistry. Every day is one day closer to coming home to each other.