Growing up, you never know who you're going to meet. You pass people every day and have no idea what their stories are or where they've come from. So many pieces have to fall into place just for two people to meet. Luckily, ours did, and we've never looked back since.

Maddy: I had never heard of the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire until a high school friend described their experience touring it and suggested that I should tour it as well. The day we met, I was running late to class. This was especially unusual for me and even more so for the first day of class. The classroom was a lecture hall with a door at the back and when I walked in, I sat down quickly in the last row. I had planned to hurry to the front of the rooom, except that the professor had just started class. When I had opened the door to enter, the noise had caught the attention of a few students sitting in the back. I hurried to my seat and noticed a boy that had been looking at me as I walked in. As I took my jacket off and sat down, I couldn't stop thinking about how that boy was cute and that I missed my opportunity not sitting in the open seat next to him. Going completely out of my norm, I got up without putting in enough thought to talk myself out of it, and walked over to the open seat and asked to sit down next to him. At the time, I had no idea that this impulse decision would lead me to my best friend and the man that I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

Spencer: I grew up in Eau Claire. I went through the local school system, and in high school I saw UWEC's marching band perform for us at one of our football games. After seeing such an amazing show, I knew I'd have to be a part of it. Going into college, I knew I wanted to be a part of the band, but had never actually figured out what I wanted my major to be. My advisor told me to surf around, taking general courses that might interest me. One of those classes happened to be the same class as Maddy. I always tried to show up early to my classes. Not because I wanted any particular seat or anything, I usually put myself near the back since I was too shy to put myself at the front of the class. On the first day of class, I had planted myself a couple of rows from the back of the room and I was just getting myself situated when I heard someone come into the room. Instinctively, I glanced back. The girl who walked in immediately caught my attention. She sat down in the row behind me. I glanced back again thinking about how cute she was. Not wanting to seem like a creep, I turned back towards the front, still thinking about her but not trying to stare. As I was lost in thought, I didn't notice she had actually got up and moved next to me! She asked if she could sit in the seat beside me (my lucky day) and I quickly said yes. I had no idea what her name was, and the professor had started class by now so I didn't want to talk over him to ask. Luckily I didn't have to wait long to find out. Our professor started going through attendance, and I soon got to learn her name. Madeline Lundquist. I had no idea if she would like me, but I already knew I wanted to get to know her. Trying to get out of my shell of shyness, I decided I could try and make her laugh a little during class by making a few jokes off of what my professor was talking about. I can't remember what I said, but I do remember how I felt when I actually got her to laugh. Little did I know that I'd still be making her laugh to this day, and little did I know that she would become my best friend, my biggest supporter, and the woman I would want to spend the rest of my life with.