Valentine’s Day is approaching and the stores are decorated with red, pink and purple gifts for your loved ones. It’s nice to take a step back and to focus on what love truly is. What draws you to it, what ignites it and what exactly it does to “make the heart grow fonder?”
So have your popcorn, chocolates and Kleenex at hand because these love stories and sure to tug at your heartstrings.
1. Julianna and Christian
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Julianna and Christian (J&C): We met at church when we found out we were partners in opening a youth group together. We both attended our church for a couple of years but never came across each other. It wasn’t until the very first day of our youth group on Dec.16, 2009 that we met officially.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Julianna and Christian (J&C): After 7 years! When we first met each other we had a really rocky friendship; we were in different stages of our lives (and also really young.) After a while, we became best friends. We continued to lead a youth group and work together. We found out how alike we really were and we really enjoyed our friendship. It wasn’t until 7 years after we met (and after many heartbreaks and even a big move to Australia for him) that we realized our feelings for each other. He was visiting from Australia for the Christmas holiday in 2016 and we spent every single day together. During that break, we decided to watch the entire Star Wars series and it was during those movies and late night talks that we realized our feelings were more than just a friendship.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Julianna: I love how genuine he is. He is the kindest and most caring man. He’s great at making me laugh and brighten up my days. He loves without boundaries. He’s patient and humble. He admits when he’s wrong and always strives to do better. He inspires me because he’s a dreamer and a go-getter. There is absolutely no one in this world like him. He’s not just a great person but he’s the most incredible human being in this world.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Julianna: Because we’re best friends. We don’t ever try to hide who we are. We respect and honor each other. We communicate and never let a bad day, disagreement or argument get the best out of us. We never use absolutes when we speak, we listen, and we are patient with each other. We love our families and our community which plays a huge role in our relationship. We make a great team because we genuinely love each other for who we are. Christian is more than my dream guy, he’s real.
Courtesy: Julianna Cavalcante
2. James and Kali
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
James: Kali and I met rushing Alpha Kappa Psi together in Fall of 2015. At the first pledge meeting, I saw Kali for the first time and thought she was absolutely beautiful. Once the meeting ended, I went over to the couch where she was sitting and said, “Hi, I’m Juicy,” which was a nickname I had gotten during pledge retreat. Kali, unfortunately, did not go to pledge retreat so she was completely off-put by my introduction. Kali was in a serious 2-year relationship at the time so I thought I had no chance with her. During Spring 2016 we took organizational behavior together and got close throughout the semester. I did everything I could to get time with her and to get her to like me. Apparently, it worked because by the end of the semester she broke up with her boyfriend. We made weekend trips to see each other in Lake City during the summer and by July, we officially started dating. Kali and I are now happily engaged and will be married in March 2020.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
James: I realized the feeling was mutual during Relay for Life. Throughout the event, Kali and I kept giving each other looks and it felt like fireworks were going off between us. We hung out after and it became clear that we both really liked each other.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
James: Kali is the most unselfish, caring and loving person I’ve ever met. She has the biggest heart and really takes the time to give back. When I first met her, I thought it was incredible how involved she was with Best Buddies. Just seeing her interact with her buddy made me fall deeper in love with her and she continues to push me to be a better person.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
James: Kali and I have a lot of fun together! We’re constantly making each other laugh and I think that’s so important in a strong relationship. We have the same goals, the same mindset and we push each other to be the person we both know we can be. As Portia once told Ellen, “It’s good to be loved. It’s profound to be understood.” We both understand each other and that’s what makes us a great team!
Courtesy: James Bell
3. Jennica and Tyler
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Jennica: Tyler and I met through our business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. After conducting a professional interview with him, I knew we had a lot in common and I got this odd feeling that I still don’t know what to call. My friends in the fraternity told me all about how well respected, sweet and funny he is. We both figured out that we ended our Spring 2018 semester classes at the same time each day. He would walk home and I would walk with him to my bus stop. During those short little walks, we found out that we had a lot in common. I started to casually invite him to places I was going in hopes to see him there and strike up a conversation because I wasn’t going to ask him on a date. He thought I was friend-zoning him because I would invite him to group things, but I definitely was not friend-zoning him. He asked me if I needed a ride to a bonfire we were both invited to, and before he picked me up, I swear I changed my outfit 10 times, which is unlike me. My roommate even caught me doing a hand-stand in my room because I was so excited. As soon as I got in the car, he iced me!
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Jennica: The next night, he asked me out to a bar with both of our friends who are dating each other, and I iced him back in the parking lot. That’s how our relationship got started, icing each other. We had some trying times at the beginning like every relationship. That all changed in one day. We were at a meeting with our fraternity and I turned around and looked at him after him being out of town partying for the weekend. With that one look I gave, that’s when he knew we were meant to be together all along, so he made it happen.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Jennica: What I love about him is that he has the world’s biggest heart. I’ve never met anyone who can love or care for someone else more than Tyler can. He is hands-down the most selfless person on Earth. He will thoughtlessly go out of his way for any of his friends. One of the first things I knew about him was that he is one of the most respected people in our fraternity. He’s fun, silly, weird, smart, southern, respectful, generous and successful. The man treats me like a queen. His smile is so contagious it brightens up any room. His confidence is so attractive, it hurts. He literally dances through life (and Bullwinkle’s) like no one is watching.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Jennica: We make such a great team. Where I am weak, he is strong, and vice versa. Tyler and I motivate each other to be the best version of ourselves. One of the most rewarding feelings is knowing that my entire family loves him and that his entire family loves me. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am without him and his family. We have shown each other that we are capable of anything that we put our minds to, for example, we both landed the same amazing full-time job with Oracle NetSuite and we have our own pretty little house in Austin, TX. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to start my life with Tyler. Our future together sort of landed in our laps after a lot of hard work to make ends meet. It is such an amazing feeling to be with him, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before and nothing will ever take it away.
Courtesy: Jennica Loveland
4. Juan and Melanie
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Juan: Mela and I met years before we started dating. We met through some common friends and we saw each other at parties and swim meets but never talked much, although we were both attracted to the other. One day she went out to eat where I worked as a busboy and I didn’t stop talking about her from the moment she entered the building. Her server mentioned me and what I had said to her and persuaded Mela into writing her number down on the receipt, which I still have, and the only thing still legible on it is her number along with her name and a smiley face written in green ink. It was a long time crush that this coworker finally united, and I’m eternally grateful for that.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Juan: We (or maybe I) didn’t realize it was mutual until we started speaking more. I knew about her and we had chatted lightly here and there, but it wasn’t until we engaged in a serious conversation that I saw the way we look at each other and how compatible we were. She mentioned she had a crush on me as long as I’ve had one for her, but I find it hard to believe based on how I used to look (not many people crush on coconut head from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.) Thankfully fate spared me as time passed, but Mela will always be way out of my league.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes them a great person?
Juan: Many things make her a great person: her intense care for others, empathy beyond compare, her willingness to find a middle ground, her appetite to try new food places, the way she always treats people like family, and she’s just a ride or die. This girl is respectful, caring, driven and smart, it’s hard to think of a person with as many great qualities as Mela. I love all this and more about her, but most of all, I love how she’s blessed my life with her presence and her love every day.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Juan: We make a great team because we both have an adventurous spirit and our hearts steer in a similar direction. What I think makes us work so well is how different we are. Coming from different cultures brings a little spice to things and when it comes to music taste we’re fans of opposite sides of the spectrum and still find a good common ground. Mela tends to be emotion driven and I try to take a step back and analyze from the outside. She likes pampering her friends and I typically don’t do that. Our hearts both have grown so much and our core values are similar. For those reasons and more, I love her all the time.
Courtesy: Juan Olivares
5. Andrea and Alex
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Andrea: We met in the Spring of 2017 while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. We had never met in Tallahassee even though we both went to high school in Tampa and were both sophomores studying Psychology. When we initially met we didn’t even like each other. We really only hung out together because we ended up in the same friend group while in Florence. The only reason we spoke was when he would ask me for help with Italian. I even texted an Italian girl he had met for him!!!
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
I think we started liking each other when we realized we had a lot in common. We would come up with crazy ideas that everyone else in the friend group would shoot down. When we found out that fried brain is a delicacy in Florence, we were the only ones brave enough to try it. We slept on a side of a mountain in Cinque Terre. We found an abandoned house in Viareggio. We got lost in Napoli. All these things excited us. I think finally finding someone as adventurous as me, if not more, made me realize I really liked him. We also were both fascinated by different cultures. We both aimed to understand and get to know the people of each country we visited and their homeland. This was really important to us. I really appreciated him for that.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Andrea: Alex is such an amazing guy. We’ve been together for two years now and we’re still in the honeymoon phase. What first attracted me to him was his adventurous and rebellious spirit. Now it’s everything about him. He’s protective, sweet, incredibly intelligent, minimalistic, enjoys the little things in life and he doesn’t care what others think of him.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Andrea: I think we’re a great team because we share the same values and goals. But we’re also very different in aspects that make us fit well. For example, I’m a more extroverted, organized, and detail-oriented person but I’m lazy. Whereas, he can be shy at first, comfortable with a little clutter and more goal-oriented but he is disciplined as hell. But I think the most important part of our team is that we push each other. Whether it’s at the gym, in a class, or just learning a new skill, we both support each other.
6. Juan and Amy
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Juan: The way my girlfriend Amy and I met is a little funny. I was on my way to go meet up with a group of people and she was there. We didn’t know each other before this but she knew of me because of her friends. She and I are both into cars and I owned a 350z. When I drove up she screamed “is that a Z!?” (Apparently, she loves 350z’s which, btw she helped me build mine from the ground up. Thank you babe!! Sorry I sold the car). So I asked her if she wanted a little ride and during the ride, she mentioned that she had recently gotten into a car accident and had a brain bleed. Once I got home, she followed me on Twitter so I decided to message her asking how she got a brain bleed. We continued the conversation and no flirting or anything started right away. We would hang out like once or twice a week but it would be just talking in the parking lot near her house. That led to late night Walmart runs, which is where I had the first chance to give her a kiss. She was sitting inside the shopping cart as I was pushing the cart around I leaned over and it finally happened. We continued to hang out more often after that. We officially started dating on Aug. 18, 2018, which makes Valentine’s Day and February 18, our 6 months. Happy 6 months, Noodlehead!
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Juan: I want to say that we realized we liked each other after she went on a cruise and I missed her a lot when she was gone. Once she came back I asked her to hang out and that’s when we started to spend more time together and get to know each other more and more every night.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Juan: Amy is a great person in many ways; she’s so smart it amazes me. There have been plenty of occasions where she’s doing something and she can’t figure it out and I tell her I’ll help her, but she continues to try and solve the problem until she does. I love that about her; she doesn’t give up or let anything get in her way of what she wants. That same motivation and dedication has rubbed off on me and I’ve become a much better person thanks to her. I love when she makes her little jokes that I think are so funny but I don’t tell her they are (but between you guys and me, they’re actually good.) She has moments where she’ll pick up a saying and run with it for weeks. She gets me hooked on it then never says it again, so here I am at work with a list of things I say because of my goofy girlfriend.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Juan: Amy and I are very different, but we somehow have a lot in common. She handles things a little differently I ever have and our cultures are different. She is Haitian and I am Colombian. We like a lot of the same things: music, movies and activities. We manage to keep our relationship interesting and always going. We actually make a great team. I am the co-founder of a clothing company called “StanceHead USA” which I actually founded 4 days before I met Amy. I can truly say Amy has been there every step of the way and is a great partner helping me and supporting me.
Courtesy: Juan Osorio
7. Gabi and Mark
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Gabi: Mark and I met when we were 11 years old in our sixth grade English class. I had a huge school-girl crush on him from the day we met, but it definitely wasn’t mutual at first. I spent the majority of middle school admiring him from the friend zone lmao.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Gabi: Throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, we were progressively becoming closer and eventually became best friends. That’s honestly why I never wanted to tell him that I liked him because I was scared of ruining the friendship. Then, at the beginning of sophomore year, he told me he liked me and we pretty much started dating immediately after that lol.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Gabi: The thing I love most about Mark is how he would literally do anything to put a smile on my face. Even after four years, he treats every day like he’s still trying to win me over. Ever since the day we started dating, he writes me a love letter every single month. Even now that we go to different colleges and date long distance, he never misses a month. It’s the sweetest thing ever.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Gabi: I think what makes us so perfect for each other is that we’re friends first and a couple second. We’ve literally been such an inseparable team, even back when we were just friends. Now that we’re older and dating long distance, we’ve found ways to make the relationship work because, for both of us, it’s worth it. I think what makes us such a good team is the unconditional trust and love we have for each other. We’re also very like-minded in terms of our goals and drive, which is why we’re constantly building each other up and bringing out the best in each other. He’s my best friend.
Courtesy: Gaby Rodriguez Insta: @gaabriguez
8. Eugene and Maria
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Eugene: We joined the same business fraternity in the spring of 2017, so we were always friends. We would crack jokes at meetings and see one another at school. But she always had a boyfriend since I’ve known her and we were just regular friends since the beginning. She lives 5 minutes away from me back home in Miami, so whenever our friends had a beach day I would always offer to drive her there.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
I started to realize (or wishfully hope lol) that the feelings were at least a bit mutual at a little lunch date at Chick-Fil-A on FSU campus. We’ve had plenty of conversations before, but I felt that something was a little different about this one conversation. Then (AS FRIENDS, she would constantly remind me that) we just started to have a bunch of movie nights and hang out all the time.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Eugene: The thing I love about her is that she is very different from me in a good way. Obviously, we have some things in common, but we have many different likes and hobbies. We share a big common one in reading, but she doesn’t think my books of business and personal growth are as fun as her romance novels. And I love that because she makes me read fiction novels and I tell her (or annoy her – depends on whether you ask me or her) about my books or interviews I watch on YouTube. She brings out the best in me and hopefully I can do the same for her. She teaches me about art and more artistic things. She makes me think more creatively and is always showing me cool things about the different languages that she is studying (it’s five by the way, and I’m struggling to learn a second with Spanish.) There are many things that make her great, but I’m going to pick one. And the one thing I would have to say is that I know she truly cares about me. It seems like a small thing, but it’s huge. She really cares about what I have to say, what I read, what I think, my hobbies, and my life in general. She truly wants the best for me and that is all I can ask for.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Eugene: The reason why we make a great team/couple is that we are so different. I wrote about it earlier, but it’s just facts. She will take me to a museum to look at art and I will get her to watch a big sports game on TV (something neither of us would do on our own.) I tell her about my favorite quotes and lessons from my Tony Robbins book and she will tell me the crazy plotline in one of her love or mystery novels. She gets me to drink tea, she gets me to not use plastic straws and to reduce my plastic intake lol, and she gets me to be happier. I was and am always happy, but she just makes me happier and that’s all I can ask of her.
Courtesy: Maria Fajardo
9. Sydney and Alaina
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Sydney: To the credit of true love and genuine connection, we met on Tinder.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Sydney: From the minute we met, we had good chemistry, but the moment when I really knew she was the one for me was when the two of us were driving home for Thanksgiving break. (We come from the same home town, what are the odds?) It’s a five-hour drive and she started rapping Hamilton. She knew every word, she sang every person’s part in every song, and I’ve never liked show tunes so much in my entire life.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes them a great person?
Sydney: Alaina is one of the most interesting, bright, compassionate people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. She has so much passion; it absolutely radiates from her. Her conversation and smile light up every room she walks into. She is eloquently spoken, is an amazing writer, and is an even better girlfriend. She’s one of those people that makes you feel like you’ve found where you’re supposed to be.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Sydney: I think we work well as a team because we help build one another up, while also pushing each other to be the best that we can be. Though we share similar values, she’s constantly pushing me to look at the world around me differently. She someone that I love spending time with, but more than that, someone that I admire and learn from. I think relationships are about growing, both into ourselves and each other.
Courtesy: Sydney Hetterich
10. Sharon and Ovidio
Her Campus (HC): How did you guys meet?
Sharon: So Ovi and I met through mutual friends at FIU. I went to Florida International University in Miami before Florida State and so did he, which is something we both had in common.
Her Campus (HC): When did you realize the feeling was mutual?
Sharon: Ever since we started talking, we started to realize we liked each other. I want to say around the second week when we started hanging out every single day, we both realized we really liked each other and it just grew from there and all I remember was that it was extremely nice to watch us grow as a couple.
Her Campus (HC): What do you love about each other? What makes your SO a great person?
Sharon: Ovi is a really calm and patient person and I feel that he balances me out because I’m a really anxious person. He always keeps me grounded and he helps me realize that there are things in life that you don’t really have to stress about, and I really like that about him. He just knows how to calm me down and keep me at peace when I’m really really stressed out. He’s also an extremely loving person He’s helped me through so much. There has been so many tough times, financially especially. He is always there for me and just supports me and he helps me get through it all.
Her Campus (HC): Why do you think you guys make such a great team/couple?
Sharon: I think we make such a great couple because we’re so different but, at the end of the day, we somehow match (lol). As I said before he’s a very calm and serene person and I’m anxious; so I kinda help him when he’s too calm. I motivate him and push him to do his best because I know he has so much potential. And he helps me relax when I overthink the smallest event. We have so much fun together. We share the love of animals together which is a bit dangerous considering already owning three in college, but we make it work and we absolutely love every second of it.
Courtesy: Sharon Morera
Every one of these stories left me in tears. I was so happy and lucky to feature my friends and even my boyfriend (cried at Strozier when I received his) in my article celebrating love. I think the best feeling next to being in love is watching the people you care about most be in love.
All in all, I want to thank each and everyone who sent me their love story. There are so many aspects and qualities that you guys as a couple share. Keep making wonderful memories with each other. And Happy Valentine’s Day!