2019 Anteater Love Stories
For Valentine’s Day, we asked the UCI community to share how they met their sweethearts on campus. Thank you to all who shared their Anteater Love Stories! #UCILove
Mai-Anh & Sami
Sami and I met our sophomore year (2011) at the Biology Haus in Arroyo Vista during move-in week. My mom and I were carrying in boxes and before we knew it Sami and another housemate came over to help. At the time, I really didn’t think much of it, but little did I know. I guess that’s why people say good things come when you least expect them. We were both Biological Science majors, which made studying together very convenient. Since snacks make the best study tools, I began baking cookies for our study sessions. I later learned that Sami knew the times I would be in the study room and would be “coincidentally” there before me! Next thing, Sami is posting on my Facebook page with a picture of himself holding a 3 lb tub of Nestle cookie dough! Smart move! After endless hours of studying and trays of cookies, we decided to go to Shocktoberfest and invite our friends. Last minute our friends cancelled on us, but we didn’t want that to ruin a fun night. (So, thank you to our friends who bailed!) We went on to grow together over the remainder of the years at UCI. It is without a doubt that college is one of the most memorable times of our lives. We had the opportunity to graduate together at the Anaheim Angel Stadium in 2014. We went from living as next door neighbors for 4 years to living 1600 miles apart, so that we could pursue our dreams of becoming physicians. Sami went on to UC Irvine School of Medicine, while I packed my bags to go to the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas. I can proudly say that we have officially completed 3 1/2 years of long distance and hopefully will be closing that gap very soon. This year doesn’t only mark the year we graduate from medical school, but together we made a big step towards our future. 7 years later, we are now engaged! In addition to hosting a traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony, the day before Sami and I did a walk down memory lane. We revisited all our favorite places at UCI and re-did our first date in Laguna Beach. We cannot wait to see what the future has to hold for us!
Randall & Jenny
My name is Randall McDermott and here is my #UCILove story with the love of my life, Jenny Konishi.
I came to UCI in 2013 and was a member of the UCI Men’s Soccer team. That year, we had a very successful season where we went deep into the NCAA National Tournament! Myself as well as the rest of my teammates spent our several wins celebrating in Newport Beach with every other team within the athletics department. After the school year was over and we all parted ways for the summer, I could not wait to get back in the fall and reconvene with all my great friends within UCI Athletics.
When the first day of preseason came about and both the Men’s and Women’s soccer teams reported to their first day of training camp, I could not help but notice that there was a new girl on the team. This girl had long, beautiful brown hair, an immaculate smile that glowed from across a room, and two huge dimples on her cheeks that anyone could die for. I went ahead and did some strategic reconnaissance and found out that this diamond of a girl that I saw at Crawford Hall, was a transfer student from Chico State named Jenny Konishi.
Since my team would consistently hang out with the Women’s Soccer Team, I knew that I needed to make sure I went to every social gathering in order to force an inevitable interaction between me and her. I did everything in my power to show up to social events from taking $60 taxis to walking three miles down Seashore Drive. Sure enough, my plan was successful and me and Jenny had our first real conversation. We talked and laughed for hours deep into the night and for the first time in my life, forever simply did not seem long enough.
A few weeks later, we had a very similar night filled with long conversations, but the idea of getting into something extremely serious for both a new transfer student like her, and a young immature sophomore like myself, was a bit intimidating and off-in-timing for both our lives. Unfortunately, the spark couldn’t ignite, and our relationship disappeared and seemed to be forgotten.
Seven months later when summer came around and our athletic responsibilities came to an intermittent halt, we as broke college students, saw opportunity working at the UC Irvine summer camps. Once the employee roster was solidified, we awkwardly noticed that we were both going to be on the same staff. As uncomfortable as it was, professionally, we had to interact with each other.
The first day was very awkward, but gradually, we actually worked really well together. The kids were having a great time at camp and Jenny and I were enjoying our time as well. When the week came to a close and the schedule showed that we weren’t going to work together for the rest of the summer, I knew that I would regret for the rest of my life if I did not ask her to go on an official date with me. Sure enough, after feeling I had a frog in my throat, a coronary artery spasm in my heart, and like I forgot how to speak my native language of English, I was able to make out the words, “What are the odds you go to the movies with me next weekend?” By the grace of God and Peter the Anteater, she said yes.
Four years later, as she finishes up nursing school and I continue my career as a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot, she has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I love you Jenny Konishi.
Happy Valentines Day sweetheart.
Elaina & Alberto
9 years ago I spotted him across campus & turned to my girlfriends & said “DIBS!! I’m calling dibs!”
Later that week at a frat party, I spotted him again, & again turned to my girlfriends & said “DIBS! I called it the other day!”
But before I knew it, one of my girlfriends had not only walked towards him, but was dancing with him!!! 😮
I caught her eye, she caught mine, & waved for me to walk over. Now of course, as I’m walking over, I’m thinking “oh my goodness, thiiiiiiis chick!?”…
She has me get super close to her, almost like she has a secret to tell me…
Which she did because as I get close & lean in, she whispers (or yells since it was a house party) in my ear “I got him for you, have fun!” & bolts it back across the room!
I’m pretty sure in that moment Beto & I nervously laughed & decided to just dance the night away.
We’ve been inseparable dance partners since!
Jessica & Kristoffer
What started out as two friends evolved into a now 14 year love story. Kristoffer and I were 1st years in our awesome dorm, Sierra. We occasionally hung out and exchanged stories about our then-crushes. Haha! It was not until our 2nd year when we were Mesa Court staffers, became best friends, and thought, “Maybe this is something more?” I especially recall being apart for winter break and Kristoffer called me while visiting cousins in NY. We talked for hours! I also remember wanting to head back to school to see him. Our relationship left the “friendzone” thereafter. We went to Corona Del Mar for our first date, one of our favorite beaches to this day.
Our relationship has been full of adventures. We maintained a fresh relationship while I studied abroad in Madrid for a year. Kristoffer also pursued professional basketball in the Philippines after we graduated. Soon, we will venture into parenthood! We attribute our time at UCI as a period that helped strengthen our relationship. Fourteen years later, and three years married, we still love traveling and being beach bums together.
Drs. Duncan-Coulter
We are Kris Coulter and Andrew Duncan, the Drs. Duncan-Coulter. We first met at UCI in September of 2008. Kris was a 3rd year graduate student in political science, and Andrew was a 1st year graduate student in sociology. We met very briefly in the computer lab on the 6th floor of Social Science Tower. Though our offices were across the hall from one another in the tower, our paths didn’t cross again until February of 2009. We met for the second time at an apartment-warming party held by fellow graduate students and mutual friends in lower Verano Place. Two weeks later, we had our first date at Peet’s in the UTC, and after that, we were inseparable.
While at UCI, we attended theater productions, enjoyed lunches in Aldrich Park, tried our hand at gardening in Verano Place, got our fill of frozen yogurt at Yogurtland in the UTC, developed a taste for craft beer at the pub, and took many walks to the adirondack chairs at the top of University Hills to take in the view of Irvine. “The chairs,” as we called them, were where we got married in February of 2012.
Kris graduated in 2014, and Andrew graduated in 2015. We currently live in St. Paul, MN and conduct research for the state government. Kris is a Criminal Justice Analyst in the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs, and Andrew is a Senior Program Evaluator in the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
Zot! Zot! Zot!
Caroline & Ollie
From the Snowbourn dorms to Crawford Court to Anteater ballpark, Ollie and I have been on an amazing journey together for 13 going on 14 years! Traveled together across the country (CA — AZ — OH — NJ) and now we are so blessed to have our little one Kingston Oliver Linton along for our adventures together. We can’t wait to tell Kingston all the fun stories of UCI 💕Zot Zot!
Alden & Huyen
I met my gf Huyen during housing training 2017. I thought she was cute so we shared social media. Her Snapchat goes OFF on Labor Day 2018 when she went to Vegas and REALLY catches my attention. I asked her out to the pub during Shocktoberfest & the rest is history
Zot Zot Zot !!!
Urvashe & Ryan
Ryan and I met through a mutual friend during my freshman year and his sophomore year at UCI. That friend and Ryan sat next to each other in statistics class and one day, she was looking through my Facebook photos while Ryan was looking over her shoulder. When she went to the bathroom and left her laptop open, Ryan started a Facebook chat with me. He finally added me on Facebook and we first met face-to-face on Ring Road! The plan for our first “date” was to find one of the bunnies running around UCI, but when it came down to it we realized how difficult that was going to be, so we just had dinner instead. We began dating and, although Ryan transferred to UCLA and I stayed at UCI, we stayed together. I was part of UCI’s South Asian A Cappella team and at some point we found ourselves without a beatboxer (which is not a good place to be for an a cappella team!). Ryan happened to be really good at beatboxing so I along with the rest of my team somehow convinced him to be our beatboxer, and he was an amazing addition to the team!
We lived in Irvine for a year after I graduated, and then we both ended up moving to New York in 2011 for law school, graduating in 2014. After almost 12 years of dating, he finally proposed to me on his 30th birthday at sunset on top of a castle in Nice, France. We were married at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on January 20, 2019.
Shivani & Soham
Some things are just meant to happen. We lived in the same city (Mumbai, India) for about 4 years, but what were the odds that we would find each other at UCI? We first met at the Welcome Grad Mixer in Verano Place. It was my first and his final quarter at UCI. On our first impromptu date, we grabbed some coffee from Java City and then headed to the beautiful DBH 6th Floor Patio. It was a Supermoon night. How romantic could it get? It was like someone had planned it for us.
Since then it’s been a long but special road for us living in two different cities and even different countries at one point and then fast forward to December 2018, we got happily engaged. Cheers to love, laughter, and life happily ever after. UCI has been the most magical place for us and our story. All we can say is Thank you UCI ❤
Laura & Gregory
My husband and I met our 2nd year at UCI in 1994! We met at a party (er… study group was going to be our official story for the kids but we couldn’t manage that with a straight face) of mutual friends. My husband almost didn’t make it that night because of a problem with his roommate’s car, but it was meant to be as we hit it off immediately! The fact that we both had the same other UC as our first choice, but ended up at UCI instead makes it feel all the more destined to be. We have always been very proud Anteaters! We dated throughout our UCI years, went away to grad school together, and have been together for 24 years now! My brother was also at UCI with us and he and my husband always go cheer UCI basketball on when they come to Northern California, where we live. We recently went on a college visit trip with our high school senior and freshmen and UCI was a highlight. We bought our alumni gear in the “new” student store, walked around campus telling our girls what it used to be like, showing them our dorm rooms and telling all our stories, and then drove around to show them the places we had lived and Newport Beach. They loved hearing all about when mom and dad were not much older than they are now and just starting out in life. Our family wears our matching sweatshirts and gets “Go ‘Eaters!” from friends we didn’t know were fellow alums and strangers, too! Our love story started at UCI almost 25 years ago, but it continues with family pride of being part of an amazing school! Here’s a photo from our graduation in 1996 and recreated in September with our girls.
Jackie & Viet
The setting was UC Irvine circa late 2008. He was the 🚴♂️ shop boy and she was the giggly freshman that walked pass the shop every day to and from the dorms and campus 💃. Fast forward through an intro through a mutual friend and months of quick, little “passing by” conversations — the two became Facebook friends. And the rest is history! 💍✔ 2014 👰✔ 2016 🏡✔ 2018 #ucilove
UCI Love that was meant to be
I met my man at UCI in 2013 before I transferred there — my best friend had a group project with his housemate. The moment he and I met, we knew it was over…it was the closest thing to love at first sight. After 6 months of snapchatting every day, seeing each other weekly in group settings, we finally spent some time alone at the beach. We were already in love! We spent 8 months together, going to concerts, new restaurants, listening to 60s rock, and connecting over the fact that we were both two very old souls that found each other. Unfortunately, after summer, our relationship abruptly ended and I had never been so lost in my life. We didn’t talk for four years.
In 2015, I transferred to UCI and kept bumping into him on campus. Every time I’d see him, I’d get incredibly sad, miss him, and eventually I found a new route to take so I didn’t have to keep seeing him. I truly never got over him, and apparently he never got over me, because we met up in March 2018 after not speaking for years, and since then we have been inseparable. I’m finishing my degree and once I graduate this spring, we’re moving to LA to begin our lives. True love is very patient, and our story proves that exes can actually make the best partners. The love never disappeared and we can both confidently say that we’ve loved each other for 6 years, and that if it wasn’t for UCI, we aren’t sure we would have experienced a love like this. There is no one else I’d rather spend my days with, and I’m so thankful for UCI for introducing us.
Rachel & Spencer
Spencer and I met my senior (his sophomore) year at UCI. We both worked at Mesa Court and began crushing on each other during training. We worked a couple shifts together and he (finally) asked me out at the end of fall quarter. We continued dating and after I graduated we decided to stick with it and do long distance! I even flew to New Zealand to travel with him when he studied abroad for a quarter! This will be our fourth long distance Valentine’s day and he will he moving to New York to live with me after he graduates from Grad School from Puget Sound University. Can’t wait to be Anteaters in the big apple together!
Liz & Jackson
My husband Jackson and I met while working as CAs at VDC. We have been happily married for 5 years and now have twin daughters!! We loved our days at UC Irvine.
Preston & April
My girlfriend and I met our Sophomore year at UCI. We had no classes together or mutual friends, but we both worked part-time at UCI Catering. Our first date was on March 4, 2018. We have been together for over 11 months and I haven’t been happier.
Noely & Alex
Met at Puerta Del Sol parking lot
Found out we had just switched into the same major
Found out we had all the same mutual friends
Took all the same classes and sat together every day for the next three years
Fell in love
Today: Both working near each other in engineering
