Roses are red, violets are Carolina blue; meet the couples that will make you believe in love, too
Valentine's Day Couples
This Valentine's Day, many of us will most likely be watching Netflix, eating CVS bags of Reese's hearts and going through Tinder to find people who are as single as us.
But there are some lucky ones who are keeping Hallmark in business during this holiday.
From long-distance to long-term, these couples are #relationshipgoals.
Sierra and Nicholas
Seniors Sierra Cavazos and Nicholas Britt are the quintessential UNC couple.
They met as first-years nearly four years ago and have been dating close to three of those years, having recently celebrated an anniversary.
Now, they are engaged.
Both graduating seniors, she spends her days applying to law schools while he's applying to medical schools.
But it wasn't always like this.
In fact, Cavazos used to think she wanted to go down the same track as Britt — their similar classes as first-years led them to each other.
But it's not where they met. They went to the same high school and weren't close until they began studying together.
Studying turned into hanging out, going to games and dances on campus.
Cavazos said she knew she loved Britt when they stayed up until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. talking about the most mundane things during finals week — sacrificing a good grade to get to know each other better.
That's still her favorite thing about him.
“No matter what we’re doing together — whether it be watching a TV show or reading a book or studying, whatever small thing — is to have him there next to me,” she said.
Part of being together for a long time, Cavazos said, is growing up together, in which UNC has played a role.
Britt agreed.
“Thinking of UNC, for me, is synonymous with thinking of her,” he said. “UNC will always be special to us in that way.”
Since Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday this year, Cavazos and Britt celebrated the holiday a few days early with dinner over the weekend after they had their engagement photos taken.
However, Britt still has a trick up his sleeve.
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“I’m going to get her flowers today, but she doesn’t know that,” he said.
Madgalena and Brett
Junior Magdalena Rainey has been with her boyfriend longer than most married couples — since sixth grade, to be exact.
“We did everything together growing up,” she said.
Choosing where to go to college, and eventually deciding to go to two different schools, was difficult, Rainey said, although they knew from the start they wouldn’t go to the same schools just for the sake of being together.
“Choosing to come to UNC, I wanted to know that I could find who I was without him and know that at the end of the day he was still the right person for me,” she said.
Rainey and her boyfriend, Brett Fay, are both originally from Rhode Island — but while Rainey spends her time in Chapel Hill, he is studying business finance and analytics at Boston College 700 miles away.
Their first year apart was especially tough, she said, but they eventually found a way to make things work. Their shared independent and self-sufficient traits played a huge part in this, Rainey said.
Now, they see each other about once a month, and they cherish every holiday and break spent together.
Last summer the couple went backpacking across Europe, hitting major cities like Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Amsterdam.
For Valentine’s Day, Rainey and Fay are not letting the distance keep them down.
In fact, Fay is flying down to celebrate Valentine’s Day with Rainey as well as both of their birthdays, which are only five days apart — Feb. 11 and Feb. 16, respectively.
Rainey said Fay is the type of person to keep in contact with all of his close friends — not just her.
“He’s a rare person to find in that he’s so loyal to other people,” she said.
Tyler and Sean
Tyler Millsaps and Sean Szitas have only been together nine months, but Millisaps said it feels much longer.
For them, time doesn't matter as much as the milestones experienced, including graduation. Millsaps, a recent UNC graduate, is currently preparing for the LSAT and Szitas owns his own wedding photography business.
The pair met through a dating app and had their first date at Linda’s. Nine months later, their Valentine's Day date includes dinner and a pottery design class.
Millsaps said his favorite thing about Szitas is his grin and his humor.
“Whenever he tells an inside joke between me and him, he’ll look at me and give me a little grin,” Millsaps said.
Szitas said they have also taught each other new things and interests.
“His love and knowledge of cars has taught me a lot about cars and my own car,” Szitas said.
Szitas said he has also been more open to listening to country music because of Millsaps — Szitas said he loves Millisaps' southern accent.
“I’m able to listen to Dolly Parton without dying,” he said.
