Alex and Michelle both went to college at Northeastern University in Boston. They met on a dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, despite neither of them liking coffee. On September 15, 2017, they went on their first date. Alex invited Michelle to go rock climbing at MetroRock, and even though Michelle had only ever rock climbed at the local Dick’s Sporting Goods 10+ years ago, she accepted. The date seemed to go well, but Alex decided to friend zone Michelle via text, claiming that their age difference (of two years) was too big. After some encouragement from Alex’s college roommate, Jon, and persistence from Michelle, Alex finally decided to take Michelle on a second date. The next months of dating revolved around Alex asking Michelle on dates without giving many details, while he would plan them in his head the day of during his bike commute home from co-op. Alex and Michelle spent the next year attending many club triathlon practices, races, and parties together, exploring Boston, and going to concerts. After a year of dating, Alex and Michelle began their two year journey of long-distance dating, as Alex started grad school at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. In 2020, Michelle and Alex both graduated (from NEU and GT respectively) and a few months later, moved into their first apartment together in Cambridge, MA. Three years later, on May 21, 2023, Alex proposed to Michelle along the Charles River, and they celebrated with dinner on Newbury Street afterwards!