Mary Kate and I met in the Summer of 2020. We sat near each other the first week of medical school and immediately bonded over being from smalltown Pennsylvania. In December of that year, after spending a lot of time together studying as friends, we officially started dating.

Some of our favorite things to do together while we were living in Erie were taking walks at Presque Isle State Park, grabbing coffee after Sunday morning mass, and making post-study Chipotle and Chik-fil-a runs. At the end of our second year of medical school, to celebrate being done with our board exams, we took our first trip together as a couple to Chincoteague, Virginia, and except for Mary Kate getting a little seasick on a kayak excursion, it was such a fun and relaxing trip.

Our 3rd year of medical school posed a challenge for us, with Mary Kate moving to Olean, NY and me moving back home for clinical rotations, but that didn’t stop us from doing all sorts of fun things together in our free time. We loved going to Pittsburgh Riverhounds games, going to concerts, and playing frisbee and pickleball!

As we started our last year of medical school, Mary Kate moved back home to Coudersport and we had a lot more free time on our hands. We loved spending our time together hiking and hanging out with friends and family. We also went through “the match” together as a couple, which is where medical students from across the country find out where they will be going for their residency training. We spent the morning leading up to the announcement at the Pittsburgh Zoo, and found out we had matched at the same hospital!

A month later, I surprised (or attempted to) Mary Kate with a proposal on the beach at Presque Isle, our favorite place to spend time when we had first started dating. Last summer before starting residency we took our first trip as an engaged couple, traveling to Italy to see our friends Julian and Lauren get married. We were able to explore Rome, the Vatican, and the Amalfi Coast together.

We are currently living in Danville, PA, where Mary Kate is doing her Pediatrics residency and I'm doing my Radiology residency. Life in residency is busy, but we are blessed to be able to lean on each other during the difficult times, and laugh with each other during the good ones (which vastly outweigh the bad). We cannot wait for the big day and are looking forward to celebrating with you!

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