For Valentine’s Day, we asked the UCI community to share how they met their sweethearts. Whether you met standing in line for $2 boba, in Mesa Court or Aldrich Park, thank you for sharing your Anteater Love Stories! #UCILove
Ceci & Ryan: A match made in Middle Earth
Anteater Love Story, as told by Ceci
We technically met on our very first day at UC Irvine in 2011 since we were both assigned to live in Misty Mountain in Middle Earth. As our friendship developed, so did our attraction to each other, but it wasn’t until February when the first move was made. Middle Earth was hosting a Sadie Hawkins dance and I was dared by two of our hallmates to ask Ryan. He accepted my invitation and that marked the beginning of our relationship.
We maintained our relationship through internships, part-time jobs, study abroad, and other extracurriculars like Alpha Chi Omega and 3D Printing Club. After graduation in 2015, I moved to the Bay Area for grad school and Ryan stayed in Orange County for work. We did long-distance for over three years (thanks, Southwest Airlines!) until Ryan relocated to join me in 2018 and we were engaged soon after.
We planned our wedding for May 2020 but were forced to reschedule due to the pandemic. Finally, this past October we were able to celebrate our marriage with our family and friends, many of who have been part of our relationship journey at UCI these past ten years.
Q: What’s the most romantic spot on campus?
A: floor common area of Misty Mountain in Middle Earth. Just kidding! The weather’s so nice in Irvine, you can’t go wrong with a picnic in Aldrich Park.
Q: What does your ideal date night look like?
A: An ideal date night includes dinner, a stand-up comedy show, and boba for dessert!
Q: Any advice for Anteaters looking for love?
A: If you sense a connection, take a chance and ask them out. It worked out for us!
Erin
My husband and I met in 1986 at the UCI Side Pocket, the game room where I rented him billiard balls. I worked at the counter while he played billiards between classes. We got married in 1992 and had three kids who are now 26, 22, and 16. We will celebrate our 30 year wedding anniversary in September. We feel very blessed to have met at UCI so many years ago.
Mark
I met my smokin’ hot wife after I started working at UCI and when she was in med school here. Here’s a photo from 2014 when she matched with Kaiser OC for residency. Huge day for the fam!
Marie & Jeffrey
I met Jeffrey through zoom in Japanese class during the summer session in the first year of the pandemic, it was my first time back to UCI after taking a long break for health reasons and he became one of my first friends here. We didn’t admit it at the time, but we often attended our professor’s office hours after class, not only because we genuinely loved the subject, but we hoped the other would show up. Later that summer, he decided to drive 2 hours down to Chula Vista from Yucaipa to meet me and we went on a hike. Now we’re getting married this summer :).
Lynda
So, yes. I met my late husband at UCI. We were both employees (and I’m a proud grad too!). He passed in 2012 due to #Alzheimers and I continue my advocacy in his memory. This is our wedding picture. #LoveEndures #ENDAlz 💜
Heather
Once upon a time, our main characters lived in a faraway land called Mesa Court. Though these two star-crossed lovers were placed into distant dorms, they made mutual friendships that eventually led to an intersection of their paths one fateful evening. History would describe the incident as “an intense heatwave that knocked out a few transformers,” but others remember it as the night that the University of California, Irvine truly came alive.
There were kumbaya circles, candles lit indoors (against tenancy rules), even a bonfire in the sand volleyball court, and various levels of streaking. While one partook in all the shenanigans that ensued (we won’t identify which character), the other congregated with friends in a dorm, unaware that the overlapping friend circle would bring her an introduction she wouldn’t soon forget. In the glistening glow of sweet candlelight and sweat, the moment of the intersection was solidified by the empty couch seat that allowed for the character to display such a courageous act as sitting down and putting his arm around the unknown girl who he later stated as thinking to be “pretty cute.”
Over 13 years later, we were married in Palos Verdes on Oct 16, 2021. Zot zot. 💕
Collete
We met at UCI & had our first date at UTC!
Sam
Hi! I did meet my boyfriend at UCI! We lived in the dorms together in middle earth during the covid year. It was all very sweet and innocent, I had sent out a message to my hallmates asking if anyone would want to join me for dinner (I didn’t know anyone and had no access to human contact) he was the first person to respond and come out to join me. From there the rest is history:)
Indona
Hello!
Anteater alum here!
I recently married my best friend, my classmate from v UCI, 2 weeks ago on the 20th. :)
We meet at UCI during our master’s in 2015. We started as friends, then project mates, to partners in crime for long road trips, new adventures, prepare for career fairs, job interviews.
Our tight-knit group of friends from UCI is our family now. We still stay in the same area and hang out every other day! Just like our Parkwest days in UCI!
We knew what we had was special but for some reason, the timing wasn’t right. But in 2020 fate led us back to each other and since then it’s been nothing but magic! It’s amazing to be married to your best friend and surrounded by your closest friends, all thanks to UCI! 💙💛
Karen
Hello, I met and married my college sweetheart at UCI. We just recently brought our 2 children to visit the campus.
Kailey & Keiser
“We met at UCI while doing engineering outreach. One thing that drew us to one another was a passion to share engineering with the next generation. We married May 4th, 2021–you could say we’re fans of Star Wars.”–Kailey ’19 & Keiser Ruiz ‘20
Meg
My name is Meg and I am submitting my boyfriend and me for Anteaters love stories! I met my boyfriend Freddy Gomez almost four years ago at UCI in March of 2018! We both worked for the Anteatery and met through work. That’s where it all began! He asked me out at the end of March and have been together since April 22nd, 2018. We worked together, were promoted together, and fell in love at the Anteatery at UCI. We created a crazy love story beginning in our uniforms, met so many friends, went to campus before and after our classes, and had so many countless meals together while working at the Eatery where we loved to see each other and hang out. We loved the people at UCI, especially at the Anteatery. We worked together at the Anteatery until we couldn’t any longer due to COVID-19, unfortunately. We would open together and close together many times and always loved being either at work, on campus at our classes, or simply hangout out with friends around Irvine. I graduated from UCI in March 2020 with double majors in Criminology, law, society, and Social Ecology and he graduated in June 2021 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. We are now living together in Los Angeles getting our careers started and loving every day we spend together. We continue to grow together as a couple and as best friends. We cannot wait to continue our love story always remembering where it all started… at UCI and the Anteatery.
