I first met Amanda at "the spot." The iconic study area of the engineering building at CBU, where at least one of our friends were guaranteed to be seen during a late night study sesh, homework sesh, or simply just hanging out. One day, a mutual friend brought his two friend groups together at "the spot" and it was the first time I got to see Amanda. I'll never forget seeing her and saying to our mutual friend, "Ayo, she's kinda bad??" Sadly, at the time Amanda was taken. So there was nothing for me to do but just live with a crush on someone I could not have. Luckily for me, it wasn't too long that I had to live like that LOL. They say patience is a virtue, and I was feeling virtuous. My time had come. My prayers were answered (not that they would break up, just that I would find the one right for me, come on now). It was time to show my skills, and that's exactly what I did. I pulled out every move I had because I knew Amanda was the one for me. There wasn't a single reason to not like her, she's beautiful, a genius, a dedicated worker, but most importantly, she thought I was the funniest person she'd ever met. This is important because one of my favorite traits about her, is her laugh. You could hear it from anywhere on campus. Truly a staple. Trying to make her laugh as much as I could, it brought us close quickly. It also taught me how to get the most out of life, not taking anything too serious, looking for a way to make every situation a fun one. It's the way we live now and I'll never not be grateful for our relationship for teaching me that. We really started our relationship thanks to the help of another friend, who knew that I liked Amanda, and that Amanda liked me. At Merry & Bright, she let me in on the secret, and Amanda and I texted the whole night since she couldn't go with us. I sent Amanda a picture of me under the tree, and she responded "Aww, how cute" and I messaged right back saying "Yea, but it'd look a lot cuter if you were in it." By the end of the night, we both realized that it was true and we grew infinitely closer to each other and started eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We'd spend long nights in the engineering building, Amanda doing homework and me just happy to be sitting with her. Christmas rolled around, and she already had plans to visit family friends all the way in Arkansas so she left for winter break. This was hard for me because we had just gotten so close, and I already couldn't see her for a month. My last relationship had ended because we couldn't handle being separated, so I feared that would happen with us over break. It was tough, and she actually almost broke up with me because I was so bad at keeping up with her while she was in Arkansas. Being separated like that only made my affection grow stronger inside though. Especially when I picked her up from the airport and realized I don't ever want to be separated from her again. The next week, we went on a little date to Barnes and Noble before school started back up. Neither Amanda, nor I, are readers, but even spending time in a bookstore was fun with her. Later we went back to the car and I was just filled with happiness and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I finally asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes, and our relationship had begun. Life with Amanda has been the best 4 years of my life and I know that it will only get better as we grow older together. I can't imagine living without her and I never want to.

One day, a loud group of boys started showing up at my studying spot, sometimes way too loud, but it always seemed like such a good time with constant laughter in the air. I noticed this Filipino dude who had the loudest laugh, thinking to myself “he has pretty decent style”, but I never introduced myself to him or any of the boys. After a few weeks had gone by, my roommate and I attended this pre-party for a Midnight Madness game. The vibes were crazy, DJ was popping off, music was bumpin, and everyone was moshing. Out of nowhere, I saw that same Filipino guy and his friends from the spot in the middle of the mosh pit going CRAzy, and even during the game, they kept showing up on the screen for some reason. I asked my roommate, “What are their names again?” Slowly but surely, we all started becoming friends, hanging out at the spot. One day, Andrew and his friend invited me to Disneyland, and I had the most fun I’ve had in a while on that day. I did not stop laughing from the moment we started driving from CBU until they dropped me back off. It really made me realize “wow, I forgot how much fun life can be.” What started off as a friendship developed into a little something over a couple months as we got to know each other more. At one point, we were texting on 4 different social media platforms, having 4 different conversations at the same time just cause we couldn’t stop talking to each other. We clicked so easily, AND he ticked off every single box on my list. Andrew was so kind, patient, smart, and most importantly, the funniest person I know. I fell for Andrew during our friend’s party. It was the little things he did like having his hand behind my back when I was standing near the edge of the pool. I mean we were flirrrting, but neither of us had the courage to confess. I tried to pull it out of him so I asked him on the way home what his type was. This man choked and said “white girls.” Dumbfounded, I didn’t know what to say and started panicking. Omg does he not like me? I’ve been reading this wrong this whole time?! What is going on… The next day at school, I found out that this girl placed a picture of herself with her number on it in Andrew’s wallet. Welp, there goes this perfect guy that I was too scared to confess my feelings for. I called my mom and texted Mandy, panicking and asking if I should just tell him I like him before someone else snatches him right up. Luckily, I didn’t have to because that would give him too much power. Hahahaha jk, it was because I didn’t have to wait too long (3 days) before we found out that we liked each other, thanks to my roommate who was tired of us fooling ourselves😊 We started spending every single second possible together. Even when I had an early class, he would drive to school just to eat breakfast with me and wait hours at the spot before his class. He would drive to school after his closing shift at the movie theatre just to bring me food because I was busy studying. He would stay until 2-3am with me just to be with me when I study, walk me home once I was done, and then drive 20 minutes back to his house. 2 months later, he couldn’t handle not having me as his gf anymore, so he asked me to be his gf one night outside of barnes and nobles hehehe. And the rest is history <3