Troy’s POV:

When I came back from my deployment to the Middle East in late 2020, I was required to quarantine in a tent in the New Mexico desert, so I had a lot of unstructured time. I spent a lot of time reading books and resuming my graduate student life at Georgia Tech such as applying to Georgia Tech Student Ambassadors. I officially joined the group in the Spring of 2021 and attended their professional head shots session.

 I knew that Shivali, a Student Ambassadors VP, had organized the photo session so I introduced myself, thanked her, and asked her what her summer plans were. We learned that we were both going to be in DC working on similar topics so we planned to keep in touch that summer.

Our summer in DC was extremely fun, and I love how we first became good friends before dating. Shivali invited me to wine nights and evenings out with her fellow interns where we got to know each other more. Then, in on July 25th, Shivali invited me to go to dinner at Le Diplomate as a friend. The whole day I was wondering if the dinner meant that she thought of me more than just a friend. I really appreciated the opportunity to talk to her for 3 hours until the restaurant closed. Shivali thinks its funny that I ordered dessert even though it was already 11 pm, but I was having too much fun for the evening to end. Now, we celebrate Le Dipeversary every year on July 25th.

After our dinner, I saw Shivali as more than a friend. I admired her brilliance, multiple talents and interests, how much she cares about the world, radiance, sweetness, and sense of humor. I began to feel very close to her and wanted to ask her out at the end of summer. However due to an unexpected wine night and Shivali's inconsistent texting habits, I didn't get to ask her until after watching Ted Lasso together on September 17th.

Over the last five years, I've had so much fun, laughed and learned so much, and experienced so many things together from Chile to India and the Philippines. I can't wait to have more adventures together and start working on the big plans we have.

Shivali’s POV:

In my last year of college, I organized professional headshots for members of the Georgie Tech Student Ambassadors. School had been remote for a few semesters, so I stuck around to meet each person. It had been a while! A new Ambassador named Troy walked up to Harrison Square for his time slot, and we got to talking — turns out he was a grad student who just came back from an Army deployment. As fate would have it, we were both headed to DC for summer internships.

Over the next few months, we hung out with new people we met in DC, traded book recommendations, talked about our love for policy and Ted Lasso and grew to be close friends. When we went back to Atlanta, I invited Troy to watch the next season of Ted Lasso over a bowl of my favorite homemade truffle popcorn. Troy asked me out, and the rest is history!

Troy brought out feelings of joy and confidence that I hadn’t felt in a long time (six years of studying really does a number on you!). He is the best person to have in your corner. He celebrates every win and always makes you smile with witty (and sometimes corny) puns. I am so excited to share this next part of our lives with you.