In 2015, the world was consumed with many complex issues, such as "The Dress Debate"—was it blue and black or white and gold? (It was blue and black.) Star Wars finally made its long-awaited return to the big screen, Game of Thrones fans were stunned by the death of Jon Snow, and America cried as Duke went on their national championship run. Meanwhile, I had just started my junior year of high school.

I was thrilled to be able to get back in the classroom and focus on my studies (you can laugh). I was especially excited for my math class, Algebra 2 (not sure how I made it past Algebra 1, but we’re not worried about that right now). On the first day of class, I walked in, absolutely exhilarated to learn about Quadratic Functions and Equations, but that excitement faded quickly. As I sat in my seat and looked around at my new classmates, I noticed a beautiful girl sitting on the opposite side of the room. She was quiet, didn’t care for any attention, and you could tell she was really listening to the teacher and wanted to learn (probably the only one in that room, if I remember correctly). My slight chance of paying attention evaporated—I had to talk to this girl. I racked my brain: how do I get over there? Right on cue, our teacher asked if anyone wanted to pass out papers to the class. (That’s right.) I immediately raised my hand and zoomed around the room until I got to this girl. I REALLY took my time handing her that paper, doing anything and everything I could to make her laugh and smile. And when I did, out of all the victors of the year, I felt like I had won 2015.

Every day, I would look forward to this class and try to find my moments. I also had to look cool. One day, I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt for spirit day, and I had it buttoned all the way up. While sitting in my seat, I decided two buttons should be undone—it’s what the cool guy would do. To which our math teacher said, “Noah, no one wants to see that. Please button your shirt up.” This embarrassing loss was one of the few; it always felt so fun and easy with her. I loved every moment I could steal. After a few weeks, I had exhausted all my options in the classroom. It was time to make a move. So, naturally, as the cool guy would do, I went right up to our mutual friend and told her I had a crush on Sarah. I may not know much about math or women, but I was pretty certain my friend would immediately tell Sarah about my crush on her.

A couple of days later, I got a text from Sarah. She was “unsure about a math problem” and wanted to know if I “knew how to do it.” (You can laugh again.) Even the guy who slept in the back right corner of our class knew I didn’t have a clue what was going on in that class. FINALLY, I was able to talk to this girl outside of math.

And from then on, we never stopped talking. Over the rest of high school, regardless of what was going on, we never stopped talking. She was my best friend.

After I graduated, Sarah and I took a break for the year. I went off to UT, and she finished up high school. But that break didn’t last long. We still talked like no time had passed or distance had taken place. The following year, Sarah started her college years in Knoxville, and we quickly started dating again.

We grew up together over those four years. We studied together (for real this time—college is serious business), went to UT football games, date parties, off-the-cuff adventures, and so much more. We learned so much about life, our dreams, goals, and ourselves. I think both of us agree we would not give up those four years for anything in the world.

After college, (I know this is long, but I’m trying to quickly cover ten years here—c’mon, guys), Sarah, our relationship, and I didn’t stop growing. And we didn’t stop having fun together. Even through the struggles of kids in their 20s trying to figure out what the hell is going on, I have been so thankful and have felt so much joy that I have had her by my side to go through it all.

Over the years, Sarah and I have seen many different versions of each other. We have both become different people, and that has been one of my favorite parts of reflecting on our relationship as I tell you all our story. I am so excited to marry my best friend—not only the person that she is now but also the person that she will be fifty years from now. And I am even more excited to get to celebrate that promise with you all on April 26!

- Noah

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