AEGEE is love. Thanks to this amazing association, countless people got married, kids – and some of them even joined AEGEE. Every year new people fall in love with AEGEE’s help. Here – at the occasion of Valentine’s Day – are some of the best stories of 2016, of couples that got together last year and are still in love.

 

Álvaro Muñoz: “How I met Celia”

Álvaro and Celia

“My name is Álvaro Muñoz and I’m writing to you in order to let the AEGEE world know about how I met Celia. It was March 2016 when Celia first got to know AEGEE-Alicante thanks to the Summer University project. I was main organizer of our SU back then so I wasn’t really much involved in the outgoing part of the project.

Later in May, during exams period and with my hormones in full swing due to spring, I had an epiphany and I installed Tinder to get rid of the boredom of studying, but after this day I mostly forgot about the app, which by the way I found quite boring and disgustingly superficial. Lucky me, a week later I got a message from a random girl who wrote, in her own words, “it seemed funny to her that I was in AEGEE”. She asked me about the Summer Universities, because she was selected for an SU. I kindly answered her questions and informed that we were looking for helpers for our soon-to-be Summer University, which was right after hers in July.

After a week, my cell phone got broken and I completely forget about her. “Did she finally went to your SU?”, you might be asking. No, she never showed up to our SU.

My story continues in late September, when the new semester started and we were organizing an LTC. The event started and guess who was in the meeting point? Her! At first, I wasn’t sure if it was her and I couldn’t find the guts to go and ask her directly: “Hey, are you the random girl who asked me about SU through Tinder?”. C’mon, you wouldn’t have done it either. However, when I saw her for the first time, I have to admit that I was quite attracted by her: tall, beautiful, long curly hair. Insane!

During the first night of the event, we went to a pub when we all danced and drink, shared some jokes and experienced of AEGEE events and a few hours later we found ourselves playing “never have I ever”, kind of closing the night because we had sessions early next morning.

After two rounds, it started to be quite boring but now it was her turn. She dropped a line that I will never forget: “Never have I ever talked with someone of this group through Tinder”. Suddenly, there was absolute silence. It was at this moment when I realized it was really her and not somebody that looked like her and, for a moment, I doubted if I should drink or not. Of course I did!

We both drank and everybody turned completely crazy! Screaming “kiss, kiss” and other things, then I standed up and kissed her :).

It’s been a few months already since we started dating, but I like her more day after day <3.

As a random fact, we had already meet each other casually during a trekking day we organized for the Buddy Program. She was with her family in the same place we were, but I didn’t see her when she stopped to talk with one girl of our group. Destiny? Who knows…

I hope you liked our story and more people can found someone special thanks to AEGEE.

Gladly yours, Álvaro”

 

Henri Broekman and Kimberly: Magical 4th of July

Kimberly and Henri

“This story begins with two unsuspecting SU participants. ‘Twas the summer of 2016, our scene is Warszawa, Poland. He, a true fanatical AEGEEan from Enschede. She, a board member of AEGEE-Valencia.

On the first day he arrived by bus from Krakow, it was his birthday. She arrived earlier, playing games where everyone’s favorite color happened to be blue. After dinner she had to sing happy birthday to him with her fellow Spanish participants, not knowing it would be the first of many times. That evening a wise Warszawa member foretold our union funnily enough. She was going to do her masters in Utrecht. The second day they were separated during the very long city game, but they were cooking together later that day. Probably locking eyes a few times. The next morning when he came back from partying early in the morning she was lying on his mattress because of a quite immobile Turkish participants. That morning they went off to a little lake town and that is where our story begins.

It was the European night. The ritual of that night was of course lead by our beloved Paul Smits. Food was tasted, booze was flowing richly. Everything was total chaos until he looked to his right. There she stood. There was something different about her, this look in her eyes. It’s quite indescribable but the only way we have been able to is simply naming it Bambi eyes. But there was also this force inside her that drew him to her. He shot towards her like a magnet, she was a bit startled. He looked in her eyes, put his hand on her cheek and kissed her. The surrounding people started cheering around us. That evening was the 4th of July. America wasn’t the only place where were fireworks that night.

The next day was of a totally different nature. We still refer to it as the beach day. He got up quite early in the morning to take a swim in the lake. He was not quite sure what was going to happen next and quite nervous in fact. He sat down next to her at breakfast, but she stood up a short while later to get something. Stress was running through his veins, since she was really cute. We headed towards the beach. Still not quite knowing what to do he looked nervously at another participant who slept in the same room. The participant knew he only needed a little push, so the participant threw his arm over her shoulder.

From then on everything went amazingly. They talked all the way to the beach. He for some reason let her listen to some Japanese metal band she instantly liked. When they arrived at the beach they put their towels next to each other and just laid there. Talking, laughing at the participants falling of their surfboards, making out, even singing “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol.

The Summer University days passed and on the second to last day plans had to be made. So in the technology museum they forged plans for the future. It was clear that they had to see each other during the summer. The conclusion was that he was going to visit her at her place in Spain, for her birthday. After another fun night it was the final morning, tears were shed. With a remainder of SU people they went to some park to listen to classical music, then having lunch and bringing her to the airport. One final kiss and away she went. Beyond his reach.

Three weeks later he arrived at Valencia airport, the day before her birthday. He brought 12 pink roses, had 11 more hidden at her place and a big bouquet with one more to give at midnight. There they made their relationship official. Days passed in beautiful Spain and a short week later, which was by far not long enough, he had to go home.

Forward a month and she arrives in the Netherlands. Now they see each other every weekend and now after seven months are still very much in love.”

 

Leoncio & Feira: The battle that brought love

Leoncio & Feira

Since our two protagonists of the third love story cannot talk for themselves, Laura Pérez and Cristina de la Parte, President and Vice-President of AEGEE-León, wrote down the story of Leoncio & Feira, the the mascots of AEGEE-León and AEGEE-A Coruña.

“Leoncie and Feira had met before in the past – the story of when they first saw each other got lost in our archives – but last SUmmer, they fell in love. It was already August when the SU organized by our two locals began…

Starting in León, organizers came up with a story for the participants about how, due to the fight between the two mascot monarchies, they had to recover a lost and magic wine chalice, walking the land of Hispania until they arrived in A Coruña.

The participants were divided in teams, one defending the interests of the octopus Feira and other on the side of Lion Leoncio. They had to go through a series of tasks, to “kill” their opponents and struggle to be the first ones to get this Chalize that had been lost after the couple had a fight before our SU.

At the end and thanks to our lovely participants, both Leoncio and Feira finally saw that they loved each other and decided to share the chalice and be together forever, well, at least for one more SUmmer.

Apply for our TSU this year and visit AEGEE-A Coruña and AEGEE-León, come meet the cutest couple of the Network!”