Jake and I met in 2017 at Haynes Academy; he transferred from Brother Martin, while I had been at Haynes for quite some time at this point. Our relationship started on a very slow incline, as we were just friends (...if that). As he figured out his place within the school, we found ourselves seeing each other more often, and we began to text frequently outside of normal school hours, often hanging out at the mall or the local boba tea shop. (We miss Pandan teahouse horribly.) During the summer of 2018, we went on our first date to see the new Jurassic World movie, and a week later we were officially dating. Yay! We would hang out before and after school, and were very lucky to be able to take some of the same classes, even more reasons to see each other on the daily. In 2019, Jake graduated high school, but luckily, he lived at home during my senior year of high school, so I still got to see him almost every day. In 2020, we started long distance, as I moved to Hattiesburg to start my college journey at USM. It was very difficult at first, but we got the hang of things eventually! 4 years later, in 2024, I graduated USM with Jake still by my side. Sadly, we were (and are) still doing long distance while Jake finishes his master's degree in Baton Rouge, but we don't let that get in the way of our relationship at all. Long distance just makes us appreciate our time together all the more. Every time we see each other, whether its just for the night on a random Wednesday, or for 5 days straight during a holiday break, we are sure to make the best of it. We both cannot wait to be able to talk to each other not only on the phone each day, but in person as husband and wife :)

Maggie and I first met during my junior year of high school after I had transferred to Haynes Academy. Though we were quick to become acquainted, I was a typical high school student who did not know what they wanted out of life or what path to follow. Unsurprisingly, then, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize just how beautiful of a person I found Maggie to be, both inside and out. After a couple of dates in 2018, I asked Maggie to be my girlfriend in the most romantic place I could think of (Audubon Zoo on a sweltering summer day) and she happily felt the same! The proceeding seven years were history, and although we encountered some hurdles like any relationship, we always came to find the beauty we each see in one another and realize how deeply we care for the other. After graduating from my undergraduate program, I moved to Baton Rouge to pursue a Master's degree, and Maggie was nothing short of supportive as she was both willing to help me through the process and patiently wait for me to return home to her. While I always had a gut feeling she and I were "in it for the long run," it was around this time that I realized I was nothing short of extremely lucky and grateful to have someone like her in my life, and I knew I wanted to spend all my days with her. So, I saved up some money for a ring and eventually proposed to her in the second most romantic place I could think of (Grand Isle, on a sweltering but rainy day), and she agreed to marry me! These days, I am doing my best to finish my degree program so that I can not only better provide for myself, but also better provide and return to the woman that is my entire world.