Beyond the thoughts I had coming to college my freshman year of whether I was going to survive my classes or how I was going to be able to battle homesickness, I thought about whether I would meet him. Him, meaning that one person who you get butterflies in your stomach about, the person who looks at you in your baggy Levis and ratty T-shirt and says, “You’re beautiful.” It is the one person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

On Dec. 26, 2005, Amber Wilson and Craig Pond were engaged after dating each other for a year and a half. They initially met through their roommates. They were not looking for a relationship with each other at the time. For six months before they dated, they were good friends.

“I just knew,” Amber said when she described why Craig was the one for her.

Being a personal friend to Amber, I insisted on taking their engagement photos. At Evergreen Park, I asked them to be how they normally are around each other and to ignore my presence. Late in the day, the sun was shining through the trees of the park, casting shadows and warm light on the two as they walked hand in hand. When they walked through the park, the love and need for each other was apparent.

It is the stories like Amber and Craig’s that show another significant reason for going away to school. It also is an example of two people who stumble across each other repeatedly and eventually figure out they are meant to be. You never know whom you will run into today, tomorrow or a year from now, but when that possible companion comes near, you will know.