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Love is in the air this Valentine week, and so we blow a happy kiss to BW's more than 2,000 alumni couples. Here are a few ways Yellow Jackets made a BW love connection.
High
school
rivalries
run
deep,
but
BW
bridged
the
gap
for
Joe
Hance
'09
and
Sarah
(Spiker)
'11.
Across
the
buffet
line
in
BW's
Colony
Room,
the
two
engaged
in
some
good-natured
ribbing
after
spotting
each
other's
t-shirts
for
high
school
rivals
Stow
and
Barberton.
They
ended
up
finding
"lifelong
love
and
friendship."
They
were
married
at
BW's
Lindsay-Crossman
Chapel
by
Dr.
Alan
Kolp
in
2011,
and
are
now
parents
to
Bo,
age
three,
and
Leyton,
age
one.
A
late
arrival
to
psychology
class
brought
Matt
Long
'11
and
Alex
Hochevar
'12,
BSN
'17
together
in
2010.
"The
only
seat
available
was
directly
in
the
front
of
class,"
Matt
recalls.
"When
the
sign-in
sheet
came
around
and
I
turned
to
give
it
to
the
person
behind
me,
I
noticed
a
cute
blonde
sitting
directly
behind
me.
Little
did
I
know
that
I
would
one
day
marry
her!"
Matt,
who
is
currently
enrolled
in
BW's
Healthcare
MBA
program,
says
"Our
experiences
[at
BW]
helped
shape
us
and
make
us
the
people
that
we
are
today."
As
a
first-year
student
on
the
first
day
of
her
orientation,
Rochonda
(Wiley)
Nenonene,
Ph.D.
'92
met
Kwasi
Nenonene,
M.D.
'91
at
the
Black
Student
Alliance
Welcome
Picnic.
Kwasi
was
one
of
the
sophomores
greeting
students.
First
friends,
they
later
started
dating
and
married
one
week
after
Rochonda's
graduation.
"We
both
benefited
from
a
great
education,
had
faculty
and
staff
who
supported
us
and
developed
friendships
that
are
irreplaceable.
Best
of
all,
we
found
each
other
and
have
been
fortunate
enough
to
be
married
for
25
years
now
with
four
wonderful
children
(one
of
whom
is
a
current
BW
student,
Mawusi).
We
are
proud
to
be
YJ4L!"
Jen
(Evans)
'13
was
two
hours
late
for
her
first
date
with
Brian
Gibbons
'12,
but
Brian
was
nonplussed.
The
two
were
introduced
by
Brian's
brother
(also
a
BW
grad),
who
recruited
them
to
play
coed
rec
soccer.
They
were
engaged
in
2015
at
Jen's
"favorite
place
on
earth"
(Disney
World),
and
married
at
the
Cleveland
Arcade
in
2016.
Beyond
their
love
connection,
both
Brian
and
Jen
say
they
have
a
whole
circle
of
friends
from
BW
who
remain
in
their
lives.
