"Wait, you live in New Jersey, and she lives in Seattle?"

I went through some old pictures this weekend, and came across a few from our first year of college. Over the years, when people would ask us how we met, Meg and I would simply say that we lived in the same dorm during our first year at UVA.  There wasn't really a singular moment, so we’d say that there wasn’t really a good story to tell.  Well, it really isn’t that great of a story, because it happened slowly over several months.  But it is our story, and I’d like to post some more light-hearted entries every once in a while, so I thought I’d recount what I remember of how we got together.

The first time I saw Megan was actually months before we ever talked to each other.  We were at UVA orientation the summer before our first year (there were several orientation weekends, but we both picked the same one).  There was some session in a large auditorium, and once it was over, everyone started filing out quickly.  But I noticed one girl in a ponytail bouncing down the auditorium steps and heading right up to the desk at the front of the room.  She just started chatting away with the professor, and I sat there and watched her for a minute before leaving, impressed for two reasons.  One, this girl seemed like she had her act together. And two, I could tell that she was athletic and pretty, two qualities that are not necessarily abundant in engineering schools.

The second time I saw her was a few months later, when she happened to be walking through my hall with another girl that I knew on their way to the first chemistry exam. The three of us walked over together, and I recognized Meg as that ponytail girl from orientation. I started going over a few last minute exam items with the other girl, but Meg clearly didn’t want or need any help.  She might have chimed in a few times, but she barely even looked at me!  She just kept her focus and walked calmly to the exam.  I later learned that she was not the last-minute cramming type.  Megan’s approach was to feel like she did the work and knew the material, and trust that she was smart enough to come up with answers for anything that she might have missed. 

Later that fall, Meg gradually started hanging out with some of the guys that lived on my hall, including my roommate.  That first semester, I spent most of my time hanging with guys in another dorm that I had met during the first week of school.  My roommate and his friends didn’t seem like they went out too often, so I didn’t think I was missing much.  But when they went out for Halloween, they all congregated in the hall outside my room.  Meg came down, dressed in some of her mom’s clothes as a 70’s hippy.  That was the first time I was jealous that I wasn’t going out with them.

Meg came by our room a few times that semester to see my roommate; they were becoming friends.  The first time she hung out in our room, I had the website up for my high-school band, and there were a few pictures on the page, including one of me wearing a bleached-blonde wig during a show.  I convinced her that I used to have long hair, and didn’t tell her that I was joking until the next semester. Little did I know that long hair on guys was a major turn-off for her!

Milltown, NJ - July 4, 1999

When we came back to school after winter break, I started hanging out a bit more with that group that lived in my dorm.  We’d go to Mem Gym and play some pickup basketball, go to the cafeteria together, hang out in someone’s room, and go out on the weekends.  One night in February, we were out at a frat party and I started dancing with Meg.  She held my hand for a bit while walking home, but then I think she realized we were walking with a bunch of other people, and she let go.  So I wasn’t really sure how she felt about me at that point.

The next week, everyone came to a party at my frat house.  I was working the bar when they got there, and when Meg got a drink I told her I wanted to dance with her after my shift was over.  (If it wasn’t for alcohol, this whole affair would’ve probably taken even longer to transpire.)  So we danced for a while, and for some reason we left early, I think because Meg said she wasn't feeling great.  So we left the party and walked back to the dorms on our own.  We went back to my room, I got her some water, and she laid there for a bit, not feeling well.  Then all of a sudden we were making out.  Not sure how that transition happened!  (Don’t worry Mike, it was all very PG.)  A few minutes later, we heard keys in the doorknob, and the door flung wide open, with my roommate standing there.  He made some reactionary comment, then announced to everyone else that Meg was in our room.  He got into his bed, and we continued making out.  After a few minutes, he jumped up out of bed and got on his computer.  He started typing loudly, and wrote a four or five-page essay.  He printed it out, taped it to our front door, and then went back to bed.  The title of the essay, in large letters, was “This is my f****** life.” 

Ok, so it turns out my roommate might have had a crush on Meg.  Who would’ve known!?  It all worked out though.  He got back together with his high school girlfriend shortly after that.  Plus, we ended up becoming much better friends that semester, due in large part to Meg's influence.

The following week there was a double date function at our fraternity.  (That means you bring a date, and you also invite a friend to come with a date.)  Since our only previous interactions were alcohol-influenced, I was still a little nervous to ask Meg out.  She was in our room one night during the week, and my roommate caught me off guard by asking if there was a party at our frat that weekend.  I said something like, “Well, yeah, I was thinking maybe you guys could come with me?”  The next night, I explained to Meg that it was a date function, and asked if she’d want to go with me.  Several months later, Meg revealed to me that she and Brian already knew it was a date function - they had found out from someone else.  So Brian completely set me up with his question, and Meg often teased me about how un-suave I was about the whole thing.  Not that I needed someone to remind me of that!

Our first date - Late February 2000

So that’s how we started dating.  That semester was the best 5 months of my life (although my grades would beg to differ).  We had a great time with that group of friends from our dorm, I joined the fraternity and started making some really strong friendships, and I started dating this amazing girl.  I remember telling people how obvious it was, right from the start, that Meg was a keeper.  We had nothing but good times those first few months.  Combined with everything else that makes your first year of college so exciting, it will be a period that I always look back on with fond memories.  On the last night that everyone was in town, the group of us from our dorm went out for dinner, and then went to lay on the Lawn to stare at the stars and recall some of our favorite moments from the year.  I remember thinking how great that bond was that we all had together, and how much better it was for me with Megan there. 

The group of us from Kent on our last night - May 2000

The next day, with people starting to leave town, we went out to grab some dinner with a few of my pledge brothers.  On the bus heading to dinner, we were talking about what everyone was doing that summer.  My friend Craig looked at us and said, “Wait, you live in New Jersey, and she lives in Seattle? …  That’ll never last.”   =)