Because it’s February and the month of Valentine’s, Her Campus UGA has decided to feature some of the love stories that have taken place on our campus.
1. Kayla Smith & Akash Shah
Kayla’s major and year: Sociology, 3rd year. Akash’s major and year: Biology and Cell Biology, 5th year
How long have they have been dating: 2 years and 2 months
Their story: “After committing to UGA to run track, I followed a bunch of random people on Instagram who already went to UGA, and Akash was one of those people. We liked each other’s photos for a few weeks, then while on spring break I was captioning my photos will really funny puns like “do you sea what I see?” with a photo at the beach. I ended up telling someone I knew at UGA that I thought Akash was really cute and sure enough, she told one of his close friends. After hearing this, he decided to slide into my DMs to let me know how funny my puns were. After some conversation he asked for my number and we texted very frequently until I graduated and into summer break. When I got to UGA, we hung out and texted often but I was nervous about getting into a relationship as a freshman. So we kept things casual for a few months. Then during Halloween, I carved the words “be mine?” onto a pumpkin which made things more serious. Finally on December 5 2015, while hanging out in my dorm I asked him to be my boyfriend, and of course he said yes. And we’ve been together since then!” – Kayla Smith
2. Nikki Sarmer and Quinn McDaniels
Nikki’s major and year: Public Relations, 3rd year. Quinn’s major and year: Environmental Health Sciences, 3rd year
Hong long have they been dating: 9 months
Their story: “So, I actually asked Quinn out. We met freshman year when we lived in the same dorm. I thought he was so cute, but nothing ever happened. I pretty much just obsessed from a distance until the end of sophomore year. After seeing him at the Kroger on College Station, my roommate helped me draft an Instagram DM where I asked him to get a bite to eat. Turns out, he liked me and we’ve been together ever since!” – Nikki Sarmer
3. Melyssa Haughton and Tyren Houston
How long have they been dating: 1 year and 6 months
Melyssa’s major and year: Management Information Systems, 3rd year. Tyren’s major and year: Exercise and Sports Science, 3rd year
Their story: “We met freshman year in Russell Hall. We had a lot of mutual friends and we vibed so well together from the jump. He was in a relationship at the time so we were literally just friends. I went to the dining hall one day to meet up with my friend Edu, who happened to be there with Tyren. After I left, Tyren went into Edu’s iPad and got my number so that we could hang out more. Our interactions became more frequent since we were always around each other, and we got really close. Something about Tyren I found so irresistible. We got along so well and I hadn’t felt like that with anyone. Tyren’s relationship fortunately ended with his ex, and we started becoming even closer. After a few months, I was ready to date him, but there were two issues. He didn’t feel ready for a new relationship so quick but I didn’t want to wait around for him, and I wanted him to grow closer to God so that he would be able to not just lead me as a man but a faithful man of God. I prayed that things for us would be clear. I told myself I didn’t want to wait around for him, and tried to ‘cut him off’ but it never worked. All of our mutual friends would tell me ‘Oh Mel, just leave him you’re gonna be waiting forever. Is it really worth it? He’s probably not going to want to settle down until junior year. All guys want to experience college and have their phase.’ But I couldn’t let him go, it was just something that he had me hooked on. I visited his home town on spring break, and his whole family loved me. We also went on our first date, Cici’s Pizza. (I hated it then but looking back I mean I guess its funny). They were so fond of us, and his mom always posted pictures of us on Facebook. Tyren still wasn’t ready to date, but wanted to solidify things with me, so we agreed that we would be exclusively talking, which was already very obvious to all of our friends. We were getting to know each other so much more, and I invited him out to church. He started coming out weekly, and growing closer to God. He wanted it for himself, not for me and it was very clear. That first summer after freshman year, Tyren would drive 3 hours to come visit me, or take me to eat and I wanted us to be official more than ever. When we got back to Athens, him and my roommate Lan planned a special surprise for me and he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. I am so thankful for her, and how she befriended Tyren and encourages him constantly with me. A much anticipated question from everyone in our life. August 31st, 2016, forever one of my favorite dates. Tyren also got baptized a few months later, and God has never answered so many prayers or made anything more clear in such a short amount of time. Over the course of the past year and a half we’ve grown together, in our faith, love, and relationship. I honestly wouldn’t want to go through life with anyone else by my side. We started off as great friends, and now I have a best friend for life. Good guys do exist, ladies, you just have to be patient.”- Melyssa Haughton
4. Hannah Register and Kyle Williams
How long they have been dating: It will be 2 years on the 22nd
Hannah’s major and year: Social Work, 4th year. Kyle’s major and year: Computer Science, 3rd year
Their story: “We struck up a conversation at Tate bus stop and talked for a couple hours. He had a girlfriend at the time so that was the end of it. A few months later, we ran into each other randomly at the dining hall because it turned out we have mutual friends. We hung out that day and haven’t stopped since. We count that day as our anniversary because the connection was just instant and we’ve been together ever since.” – Hannah Register
5. Tiffany Dang & Cameron Thomas
How long they have been dating: 1 year
Tiffany’s major and year: Marketing, 2nd year. Cameron’s major and year: Public Health, 2nd year
Their story: “He lived on the same hall as one of my friends from high school. We would see each other from time to time and he eventually joined our friend group. Valentine’s Day 2017 he asks me on a date out of the blue and later finds out I’ve never been to Subway so we decided to go to the one downtown. As we were walking there together, a Night East West bus pulled up so I suggested we take it to the Arch. Little did we know the bus was headed in the opposite direction and took us back farther than where we started. It was really embarrassing for me, but the walk back is where we really started to get to know each other and once we got there the date went great! We’ve been dating ever since and every Valentine’s Day is really special because it’s our anniversary too!” – Tiffany Dang
There you have it! Those are just five of the thousands of love stories that have surely taken place over the years at UGA. Happy Valentine’s Day!