Sydney and Matt’s story began when they met at 16 as part of the same high school friend group. Even as life took them to different colleges, they stayed in touch and always made time to catch up during breaks.

In 2020, they were both looking forward to going on a Birthright trip to Israel together, but like many plans that year, it was canceled due to COVID. Even though the trip didn’t happen, the conversations leading up to it brought them closer. They decided to hang out anyway—and that summer, something shifted.

Their connection grew naturally over walks, late-night talks, and shared laughs. When Sydney needed to move out of her apartment at Virginia Tech, Matt offered to drive over 14 hours round trip to help her—no questions asked. It was during that trip they both realized this was more than just friendship.

They officially started dating on June 20th, 2020, and the rest, as they say, is history.