Michaela: In August 2017, we were seated next to each other in the clarinet section on the very first day of band at Wheaton College. I was a freshman, and Micah was a senior in high school. We had nothing to talk about, and, thus, barely spoke for several months. Micah: I had very little first impression of Michaela, from when we first met. My first solid memory of her was when I auditioned for acceptance to Wheaton College in December 2017. Michaela was helping run auditions that day. She was friendly and brought me to my practice room and the audition room. Michaela: That spring, the band went on tour to Los Angeles, and I discovered that Micah had a great sense of humor! With this in mind, and the fact Micah had auditioned and been accepted at Wheaton, I figured I might as well extend a little more effort in building a friendship. Micah: It was a tradition at Wheaton that the clarinet section would get dinner at the cafeteria once a week. During my freshman year (Michaela’s sophomore year), however, only three of us – Michaela, Eleanor (a close friend of ours), and myself – showed up consistently. We all became close friends through those weekly conversations, which were the highlight of a difficult freshman year of college. Michaela: About a year later, I realized that I had started developing a crush on Micah. I thought he was a great friend but was terrified at the thought of ruining our friendship and making things awkward. Plus, he had not shown any particular interest in being more than friends…right?? But there was that time at the end of the semester where the two of us randomly went out to get bagels together….Was he interested?? Needless to say, my friends were extremely patient listeners during this season! Micah: Unbeknownst to her, I was interested in her, and found that we spent a lot of time texting, but I was too scared to make a move. Michaela: After agonizing back and forth for a year and a half about whether to say anything, I finally decided that I loved our friendship too much to let fear stop me from communicating a desire for a deeper relationship. Two weeks before I graduated (not a chaotic and stressful time at all), I asked Micah if he had thought about and/or was interested in being more than friends Micah: By the end of Michaela’s senior year, I had moved on. I expected that Michaela would move back to WI after college, and I wasn’t very interested in doing long distance. However, when Michaela asked if we could talk, I had a fairly good idea of what she wanted to discuss! I was open, but felt unsure. After taking a few days to think and pray about the matter, we decided to spend the summertime talking and figuring out if we wanted to pursue a relationship. Michaela: After lots of quality time that summer, and after two + years of trying to hide that I liked Micah (and not doing a very good job of it), we happily started dating on August 24, 2021! The two and half years we spent dating contained many sweet, difficult, and vulnerable moments that brought us closer and closer together, and with time we realized we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. After scheming and figuring out many ring logistics, Micah asked me to marry him at the Shedd Aquarium on February 3, 2024. I couldn’t have been happier to say yes!