Lebanese citizens walk by Valentine’s Day decorations, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
We’re all familiar with the unexpected ways couples meet in movies: getting stuck in elevators, catching strangers as they trip on a busy street, freezing in place as their eyes lock for the first time. These events -the exact moment a future couple meets- are referred to in movies and media as “meet-cutes.” As it turns out, they happen in real life, too. And sometimes the true stories are even cuter than their fictional counterparts.
Courtney Gavitt, second-semester English major
I met my boyfriend on my senior picnic in high school. We went to Holiday Hill in Prospect and my friend and I decided to go canoeing on the pond there. Another boat with a group of guys pulled up next to us and shouted “AHOY!” and I remember thinking they were insane. The next thing I knew, one of them stood up and jumped into my boat- in the middle of the pond. He shook my hand, introduced himself and sent me the cutest grin I’d ever seen. Flash forward eight months and now we’re dating. To this day, I still can’t believe he stood up on a boat and jumped into the canoe of a complete stranger because he thought she was pretty, but I’m thankful he did.
Destin Brown, second-semester digital media and design major
We met over the summer during a program called SSS. We had the same counselor and we were doing icebreakers and we got partnered up together. It was love at first sight.
Anonymous
We met while I was on vacation in Wildwood, New Jersey. I was in the hot tub and he came over and sat with me. He told me he liked the flowers on my bathing suit and then we talked for three hours. We spent the entire trip together. We shared a boogie board, played beach volleyball together all day and held hands in the elevator when no one was looking. We held a long distance relationship for a while afterwards.
Cristian Osorio, second-semester physiology and neurobiology major
It was sometime during November when I was walking back from South dining hall to my friend’s dorm. As we were walking back, he stumbled upon a friend he made during orientation, and I was amazed. To keep it short, I was shocked. Literally. I couldn’t move and she just caught my attention. We reconnected through a party at the end of January and the rest is history.
Amber Smith, fourth-semester political science major
I first met my boyfriend in middle school. Even though he was a year below me, I was very attracted to the fact that he always wore a beanie and listened to Fall Out Boy. To this day, he swears he had a huge crush on me as well. He transferred schools before anything could happen between us. We were reunited in high school when we had mutual friends going to the ice skating rink. It was there that I saw my middle school crush looking cuter than ever… with another girl. Clearly, we didn’t run off into the sunset right after our unexpected reunion. Love stories are not always easy, but they work out in the end. There are a lot of missed opportunities and heartaches. It will all be worth it in the end if you find someone who will not only love you but support you.
Courtney Gavitt is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at courtney.gavitt@uconn.edu.
