The funny thing about how Sahil and I really met is that it was actually our second time. We went to the same high school, but back then we were just two faces in the crowd with mutual friends and the occasional social media like. Fast forward to our university days, and fate had a new plan. That day, Sahil had congratulated me on Instagram for an award I’d received at Sacramento State, and somehow, we both ended up on campus at the same time—something that almost never happened for either of us. I was heading out to the parking structure, and Sahil was on his way to study when, suddenly, there he was, coming down the stairs just as I was about to go up.

Sahil says he was elated to see me, even though all we managed was a quick hug and a “hello” before heading off in opposite directions. For both of us, that chance meeting felt different, and we lingered just a bit, feeling the spark of something new. Seeing each other after all those years was surreal; I was struck by how much he’d grown, from the cute high school guy I knew in passing to someone who felt genuinely familiar, yet intriguingly new.

That serendipitous day set everything in motion. From then on, we knew we wanted to be more than just two people who occasionally “liked” each other’s posts. We took a leap from social media acquaintances to real-life partners, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Our story might have had a few missed connections, but we couldn’t be more grateful for the timing that finally brought us together.