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Duck Love Stories 2023 Edition


Celebrating Duck love

Ahead of Valentine’s Day 2023, we asked UO alumni to share their tales of romance. Some alumni met in residence halls or the EMU, one couple at a university dance, and another across the country on the East Coast. One thing they all have in common though is that these lucky Ducks found love with fellow Ducks.

These stories span decades and include couples that met both on and off campus. Some fell in love immediately and knew they’d be together forever, while others reunited well after graduation.

We thank everyone who submitted their story!



 

Luis Hernandez, BA ’98 (business administration) and
Jennifer Hernandez, BA ’98 (Russian)

Luis and Jennifer Hernandez

Recently, my wife and I visited Eugene with our two younger sons, ages 12 and 8. “We are going to take you to the place where it all started,” we told them. We spent some time walking around campus, showing them some of the buildings where each of us took classes, the dorms we lived in, and the places we worked at.

Jenn and I met in Riley Hall in the fall of 1994. Both of us were enrolled in the International College Program (ICOL) that the University had at the time, where half the students in the program came from other countries and the other half from the US. It was a living/learning experience where we all took an international-focused curriculum and lived together in the dorms. A few months after we met, Jenn and I started dating and got to share a great college experience. After graduation in 1998, we moved to Bend and in July 2001, we tied the knot! 

Now, almost 29 years since those days at Riley Hall, the adventure continues living in Portland and with three boys. As Jenn and I reminisced about our time in college with the kids, we couldn’t help thinking about how cool and special it was that we were sharing those stories with them that day. “Do you want to see the place where your mom and I first kissed?” I asked. “Ewww no dad, thanks.” Maybe next time . . .

Nate Jackson, BA ’05 (electronic media production), MEd ’22 (curriculum and teaching) and
Rayna Jackson, BA ’04 (romance languages)

Nate and Rayna Jackson

 ​As told by Nate Jackson.

This story starts off with a drop-dead gorgeous, college freshman girl who caught the eye of just about every guy who walked past her. She had natural long eyelashes, dimples in both cheeks, a radiant smile, and an unforgettable face. Her name? Rayna. Ahhh . . . the name itself is beautiful. It means queen!

Rayna arrived at the University of Oregon in the year 2000, with a focused mindset: get straight 'A' grades, get involved in student groups, graduate with honors, and one day, become a world ambassador. Rayna hung out with her church friends and volunteered at a senior citizen community center. Rayna was not your regular kind of a girl. She was truly one-of-a-kind.

Now . . . meet Nate Jackson. One could say he was the complete opposite of Rayna. He arrived at the university with only two things on his mind: "get good enough grades to graduate" and "meet as many girls as possible!" Nate had built a reputation for being a "party animal." He filled rooms with his charisma, he was funny, and he found himself as the center of attention in almost every social situation. Nate was the guy most girls loved to hang out with, but he was NOT the guy to bring home to meet mom and dad.

As fate, or destiny, or God would have it, the two met for the first time at a university dance. The DJ played the best music, snacks and beverages were neatly placed on tables, and on the dance floor stood Rayna and her six girlfriends. Nate was also on the dance floor, dancing inappropriately, while a crowd of 20 college students encircled him, cheering him on.

Moments later, the DJ played a popular song from the late ’90s, titled "Thong Song" by a singer named Sisqó. It was at that moment, Nate locked eyes with Rayna to seize his opportunity. Mistake #1: Do not ask a girl out with the "Thong Song" playing in the background. Rayna declined his advance. The night ended, and it would be many months before the two would meet again.

Fast forward five months. Nate applied for an on-campus telemarketing job and was hired immediately. To his surprise, he spotted the girl from the dance, working in an office. Except this time, lights were bright in the work setting, and he became entranced by her beauty. It was Rayna. She was one of the managers and also Nate's "superior." A Job title was NOT going to discourage Nate from developing a massive crush on Rayna. For an entire year, the two worked near each other, but kept a professional work relationship, until Nate's last few weeks on the job before he'd eventually quit. He approached her and asked "Hey Rayna, wanna hang out sometime?" She nicely responded "no, thank you.” REJECTED! Mistake #2: Don't ask your boss out on a date while you're at work!

Nate finished his last day of work, and the two would not see each other again until after college. Rayna and Nate graduated. Rayna would get a job working as an administrative assistant, and Nate went on to become a travel show, television presenter in Los Angeles.

Through mutual friends, Rayna was able to get Nate's phone number. He finally matured, and the two were able to have intellectual conversations, as they discussed life goals. They were starting to connect on a much deeper level. They shared laughs together, chat messages, video calls via their laptops, and each conversation lasted one to two hours! Rayna really felt an emotional connection that was undeniable. Finally, she started to let her guard down and allowed her heart to go toward Nate. She called him more frequently, until abruptly, Nate stopped returning her calls. Rayna backed away from their potential relationship. Mistake #3: Don't leave a beautiful girl waiting for you. If you wait too long, she can easily find someone else.

A love story that was so close to happening, took a dramatic turn. Rayna started dating other guys, and Nate continued to date other girls. After about two years of Nate's reckless dating, he had a dream about Rayna. In this dream, he saw himself marrying her.

Nate and Rayna Jackson with their two children

Nate picked up the phone, and with great determination, pursued Rayna. He returned every call, wrote her letters, sang to her, made her laugh, and spent much of his efforts convincing her that they were meant to be. They dated for only a year. Nate proposed, and Rayna said "yes." Eleven years and two kids later, the two remain happily married.

Nate made many mistakes throughout his pursuit of Rayna, but the one mistake he didn't make was marrying the most beautiful girl he had ever known.

Ashley Kirsininkas and Cameron Mertens-Mahoney

Ashley Kirsininkas, BS ’11 (business administration) and Cameron Kirsininkas, BS ’11 (sociology)

My husband and I are grateful for meeting each other in Autzen at a Ducks football game 10 years ago while both getting our bachelor's degrees. We are now happily married and living in Central Oregon. We had to include the best mascot in the world, The Duck, at our wedding! We are grateful for our time spent in Eugene, making life long friends, and for my sports business career that is 10 years strong and began in the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.

The Cox family throwing their O

Alison and Jim Cox, BA ’95 (English)

My husband Jim and I met in 1992 in the basement during a fraternity party. People thought we must have known each other because we were both from Southern California. It's a great story when we tell people we met where they filmed Animal House. Now, 30 years later, our daughter is a freshman with a few of our closest Oregon friends' kids . . . more #DuckLove family stories to come with the next generation of Ducks!


Megan Moreland, BS ’10 (mathematics) and
Andrew Moreland, BS ’11 (accounting, philosophy)

Megan and Andrew Moreland with their dogs

Sometimes it takes a second first date to make a relationship stick. Andrew and I met while working at The Duck Store in 2009. He asked me to lunch, and we enjoyed a good conversation. After eating, Andrew asked about going to the campus art museum. I had forgotten my student ID and we couldn’t go. At the time I didn’t know if it was a date (it turns out it was).

Flash forward to a few weeks later, and Andrew asked me out again (he maintains he had finals and was studying). By that time, I started dating someone else (plot twist!) and dated them for nine months. As you probably guessed, that relationship didn’t work out. Later, I remember thinking about the smart and handsome guy, Andrew, so I asked him to join me at the art museum. This time I remembered to bring my student ID, and I knew it was a date. From there, we fell in love.

We’ve been cheering each other on ever since – for our graduations from the University of Oregon, job promotions, getting married, and bringing two dogs into our lives. Of course, we couldn’t resist naming our dogs after famous Oregon athletes, Pre (Prefontaine) and Otis (Davis). We’ve been together for almost 13 years and married for eight. I feel so grateful that we made it to our second first date. Go Ducks!


Eric and Michelle Hjelm

Eric Hjelm, BA ’11 (business administration), MBA ’22 (general business) and Michelle Hjelm, BS ’14 (educational foundations)

Michelle and I met at a mutual friend's birthday party and were immediately drawn to each other. Despite attending the same high school, we had never met, so the UO played an important role in bringing us together. Twelve years later we've moved from and back to the Pacific Northwest, gotten married (with the officiant, my grandfather, wearing a Duck stoll at the altar), and both work to positively impact our hometown of Eugene.

Scott Siegrist and Denise Tamerius-Siegrist

Scott Siegrist, BA ’91 (English) and Denise Tamerius-Siegrist, Class of 1991

My wife Denise and I have been dating since 1988 and last June celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. I am most happy to say that meeting her was the best thing to happen to me at the UO and graduating in 1991 was the second. Our son Samuel is graduating from Portland State in June, and then we are excited to move back to Eugene in September and reconnect with family, friends, and the university community. Go Ducks!

John Hill, BS ’76 (journalism) and Sharon Malarkey Hill

John and Sharon Hill

​As told by John Hill. 

It began in a year that would be marked by a presidential scandal and in a city that was about as far from Cannon Beach as one could get and still be in the lower forty-eight.

An Oregon girl, a paratrooper’s daughter, was just 19 and had left her Oregon roots for Washington, D.C. to take a job with a government agency. She lived in a high-rise that had a swimming pool that she could look down upon from her ninth-floor balcony. With the day off from work for the Memorial Day holiday, she spied the open gates as well as the long and lean lifeguard with a head of moppy curls and thought that going for a swim on this Memorial Day 1972 was a very good idea indeed.

I, the moppy-haired lifeguard, was enjoying an easy opening day at the pool as there was an absence of pool-goers despite the sunshine.

The Oregon girl signed in at the table by the gates, walked midway down the pool deck, and tossed her towel on a chaise lounge. She dove in at the eight-foot mark and swam a few yards underwater toward the shallow area near the mid-pool safety rope. Cutting through the surface, the Oregon girl stood and pulled hair back from her face, and with eyes closed and head arched back, looked to the sky and squeezed the water from her hair.

Unbeknownst to her, the lifeguard, leaning against a Coke machine a few yards away, was in awe that this unknown, pretty girl in a floral two-piece with curls of her own now pulled back, could weather the 60-degree water so unfazed and look so resplendent.

The lifeguard did not know at the time that the Oregon girl had a love affair with the Oregon coast, and Cannon Beach in particular. As long as she could remember, the salt air and chill water of surf were a special place in her mind that she could visit, when longing for her family and her home.

The lifeguard would soon discover that the Oregon girl would become his heart’s compass and the center of his universe from that day forward.

That summer, the two grew close and began to speak of a future where their lives would be joined. At summer’s end, the girl longed for Oregon and returned home to enter college. This put some miles and uncertainty between her and the lifeguard, a student himself in Virginia. The next year was spent in their respective colleges and with some extended stays for the Oregon girl in both Virginia and Oregon. When in Oregon, she was pulled to Virginia, and when in Virginia, she was pulled to Oregon. Complicated? Oh, yes.

Hundreds of letters and thousands of miles traveled kept their love alive, despite the distance, pulls of youth and discovery, and uncertainty of the future. Another year passed and in December, after several months of separation, the lifeguard drove across the country to Oregon to meet the Oregon girl’s parents and move her back to Virginia. Leaving Virginia on a Friday afternoon, he drove hell-bent from Southwest Virginia and arrived Monday evening in Portland. They went out for a few beers at Dandelion Pub and then to Forest Park. Love, uncertain over the months of separation, prevailed and felt safe and good.

The following morning was one of those beautiful December days when the fury of the rain and wind abate. The Oregon girl knew that this was the day she would drive the lifeguard to Cannon Beach. The lifeguard who had never been further west than Kentucky prior to the trip, would see the beauteous Oregon that had pulled her cross country a half-dozen times. Early that morning, they drove in the Chevy wagon to Cannon Beach, down Highway 26 to the junction of 101 on the outskirts of Seaside.

John and Sharon Hill with their family

Rounding the curve at Tillamook Head on 101, the lifeguard caught first glimpse of the mighty Pacific and the forest laden hills that near plunged to the wide sand expanse. A bit later, they braved the chill winds as they tread across the remarkably wide beach. He stood, in awe, much as he had been in awe of the Oregon girl in the frigid Virginia swimming pool. While lost, he knew right then that he had found that part of her soul that made her the person he had come to love. This place, so far away, felt more kind than home, and he knew this would be where they would live.

The lifeguard and the Oregon girl attended the UO together. They married in 1975, and have been married for 48 years. The couple now makes their home in the Cannon Beach area most of the year. They have three adult children and eight grandchildren.

Michael Samano, BA ’92 (sociology) and
Rosa Chavez, BA ’96 (international studies), JD ’03

Rosa Chavez and Michael Samano with their two sons
Michael and Rosa as students at UO

Rosa Chavez and I met during the 1991–92 school year. She was a freshman, and I was a senior, and we were both members of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chican de Aztlan) and Native American Student Union (NASU) and would hang out in the EMU. I received my undergraduate degree in 1992, and Rosa is a Double Duck with a bachelor’s degree as well as a JD. We started dating in 1994 and married in 1996. Twenty plus years later, we now have two sons who have spent many days at Ducks events. Our oldest will be a freshman at the UO this coming fall, bringing our family full circle to a place we love and call home. Go Ducks!

Kristina Wilson, BA ’11 (public relations) and
Henry Wilson, BS ’11 (sociology)

Kristina and Henry Wilson

Henry and I met our freshman year in Barnhart. We started dating our senior year of college and the rest is history. Our daughter Ainsley experienced her first football game this fall when we beat BYU. Felt good to be back in Autzen for this Duck family!

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