In celebration of Valentine's Day, we at the CAA have been sharing amazing stories from alumni who found love and friendship during their time at the University! Read on for some of our favorites, and check out the full collection of 2019 Columbia Love Stories.
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"Me and my now husband met during our Columbia Business School Executive MBA program. We are doing the program in conjunction with London Business School - so our very first meeting happened the first day of the program in London.
Who knew that the gregarious and cute guy I ran into over orientation drinks will become my husband and now father of my daughter just 2.5 years later! It has been a dream for both of us to attend CBS. We will forever treasure memories of our first dates in little cafes around the campus, late nights preparing for yet another Dean Hubbard's assignment, and graduating together full of aspirations and hope." - Ganna Y. '18BUS + Boris V. '18BUS
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"Our Columbia Love Story is a little different than most. As Nick was graduating from his bachelors in Spring of 2015, I was moving into the city to start my Master's at Columbia Journalism School, gearing up for the intense Reporting Bootcamp that begins in the summer. We never overlapped at school, but our paths must have crossed on campus or nearby, because thanks to the location-based algorithms of Tinder, we matched a few months later.
Our first months of dating were intrinsically connected by Columbia: Nick was the subject of one of my projects for my video journalism class, he was my date to Lucille's Ball (J-School Prom), and he came to my Lavender Graduation as well as Commencement.
We're now engaged and frequently come back to campus to enjoy alumni events, the tree lighting ceremony in the winter, and the place where our loved bloomed." - Kevin M. '16JRN + Nick F. '15SEAS
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"My husband, Michael, and I met during my freshman orientation week. He was a junior and we were both on the respective varsity men and women's tennis teams. I was practicing with my teammate, when she suddenly hit herself in the head with the racket and fell to the ground. He saw us in distress and ran over to help. From that point we became friends and started dating the following semester.
Six years later, we got engaged on the same court where we first met at Dick Savitt Tennis Center. After 13 years together, we have two children, Max, 3, and Leo, 1." - Lauren A. '090CC + Michael A. '07CC
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"I met my lifelong best friend on Day 7 at Columbia! The summer before matriculating, I applied on a whim to be a part of Columbia Urban Experience (CUE), Columbia's pre-orientation volunteer program that begins a week before commencement. Coming from a rural-suburban background, I knew moving to NYC would be a huge lifestyle change, and I was concerned about making new friends. But little did I know that I'd meet my best friend as soon as I moved into my CUE dorm at McBain!
Like me, Autumn was quiet, came from a small town, was interested in neuroscience, loved watching movies, and had a quirky, introverted personality. She was the first person I met and befriended at Columbia. Without her, I would never have gotten through Columbia without someone to laugh with, eat with, vent with, and study with. Almost seven years later, we are still living in NYC, still reminiscing about life at Columbia, and still the best of friends." - Sophie P. '16CC + Autumn O. '16CC
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"We met the first day of Columbia | SIPA orientation for the MIA program, group 14. I knew from the moment I saw her that I wanted to date her.
I spent the first couple classes of Marco economics trying to convince her that I wasn’t proficient in calculus and asked if she would tutor me, even though I had taken multiple calculus classes in undergrad. After a couple of weeks, we went on our first date at Momoya in the UWS. We spent the rest of our time at SIPA growing/learning together and eventually getting married in Cartagena, Colombia with family, friends and especially SIPA friends! We will celebrate our one-year anniversary February 24th!" - Michael M. '14SIPA + Laura R. '14SIPA
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"My pawrents met in Japan 4 years ago. My dad (Rex '17GSAPP) went to Columbia University in the City of New York for his Master's degree and at the same time, my papa (Ron '19BUS) decided to apply, too. They were both accepted to Columbia and got married in New York. The most beautiful thing is they decided to have me while studying at Columbia.
My name is Udon. I've grown up at Columbia University and come here almost every day. I love my campus and everypawty here is so friendly to me. If you see a white fluffy ball walking on campus, don’t hesitate to say hi! (although I am exchanging in Spain now, I will come back soon)." - Udon
