To celebrate this year’s Valentine’s Day and the season of love that is February, we decided to spotlight three professor duos that we not only admire as professionals but also as couples. Get ready to say “aww” as your read their responses to our questions.
1. How did you meet?2. What did you do for your first date?3. How long have you been together?4. How long have you worked at Bucknell? What is the best part about teaching at the same university?5. Picture perfect Valentine’s Day.6. One word of relationship advice for students.
Professor Ned Searles and Professor Michelle Johnson:
1. We have an “arranged” marriage; we were brought together by members of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington. They knew we were a perfect match, but we were both too busy and dedicated to our respective fields of study to ever meet. We were engaged six months later.
2. We went to the Big Time Brewery in Seattle and each had a pint. We talked about Ned’s upcoming fieldwork in rural Alaska. We concluded the date by shopping for anthropology books at the University Bookstore.
3. We’ve been together for 21 years and married for 20 years.
4. We’ve both worked at Bucknell since 2002. We get to take our afternoon coffee together – espresso macchiatos brewed to perfection at 7th St. or the Library Cafe.
5. Snowshoeing in rural Alaska at 30 below, followed by a dip in Chena Hot Springs under the aurora borealis, ski-lift (the drink, with extra whipping cream) in-hand.
6. Work and career opportunities will always be available, but finding your soul mate is more difficult. When you find that person, be willing to make sacrifices.
Professor Mihai Banciu and Professor Alia Stanciu:
1. We met in the dorkiest way possible: at a high school physics contest. While we both attended the same high school in Bucharest, we had never ran into each other prior to that random seat assignment during the contest. For the record, Alia had the higher score :) And we’ve been together ever since.
2. Both of us agree that we went for desserts at a pastry shop followed by a long walk in Bucharest’s Cismigiu Gardens. One of the popular attractions of Cismigiu is that couples can rent boats and row over a very nice lake, located in the middle of the park.
3. We’ve been together for 22 years, married for 11 (12 this august). It was a long courtship process :)
4. Both of us have been at Bucknell since 2007. The great part about being together here is that we still get to go out for dates during the day!
5. Well, we tried over the years to do something fun and cool every time, and several times we did have an almost picture perfect Valentine’s Day. We both agree that such a day would include skiing, followed by a nice meal and a movie, preferably a comedy. Little gifts and flowers always made me (Alia) extra happy.
6. TRUST
Professor Jordi Comas and Professor Virginia Zimmerman:
1. We met in college before classes even began Jordi’s first year. Virginia was working at the theater club table at the new student activities fair, and Jordi approached the table with some questions. A few weeks later, Virginia cast Jordi in a play she was directing. A few months later, we started dating.
2. We went out for Ethiopian food in Washington, DC. It was winter break, and Jordi came to visit Virginia as he drove up the east coast seeing friends from high school who were still at school.
3. We had our first date in December of 1990, so it’s been almost 25 years!
4. We came to Bucknell in 2002. It’s nice sharing a workplace because it means we can talk to each other about a wide range of things going on at Bucknell, and it’s a world we share, instead of being a world that belongs to just one of us. That said, the Bucknell community is so warm and welcoming that non-Bucknell spouses likely feel very involved, as well.
5. We have three kids, so Valentine’s Day has sort of become Halloween Take 2 in our household, a holiday first and foremost about acquisition and consumption of candy. However, we’ll share a special story from our first Valentine’s Day together. We were in college, and a campus group gave out compatibility quizzes as a fundraiser. You’d answer ten questions and then receive a list of the ten people (males and females) on campus with whom you had the most in common. Out of 1800 people on campus, we ended up at the top of each other’s lists!
6. We were both really moved by a sentiment expressed at a friend’s wedding: You know you’re ready to get married when you look at each other and realize you already are.