Love at UQ
2023
By Lucy Blair
Welcome to Love at UQ – our annual celebration of all the connections that university life brings. This Valentine's Day, Contact is sharing the stories of alumni who came to UQ for an education and found love as well. Thank you to the students, staff and alumni who have shared their UQ love stories with us.
Lei (Master of Commerce ’07) and Andrew (Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Engineering ’05)
Told by Lei
“I came to Australia from China in 2005 to study at UQ, where I met my husband in a Chinese conversation class. He was looking for a native Chinese speaker to practice his Chinese while he was working at the IT desk at UQ.
We became language partners and often met up at Pizza Caffe for lunch, using the excuse of practicing each other’s languages. But the truth was that we just wanted to be together.
Our friendship turned into love after countless pizzas.
We have now been married for 12 years and have two beautiful kids. We often take them to UQ Lakes and tell them our love stories at UQ.”
Annick (Bachelor of Health Science '20) and Jeremy (Bachelor of Advanced Science '20)
Told by Annick
"Jeremy wrote an entry to the UQ Love Letters facebook page. I decided to reply on a whim. We emailed anonymously for a month.
This year we celebrated our second wedding anniversary."
Esther (Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning '13) and Miguel (Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning '13, Bachelor of Architectural Design '17)
Told by Esther
“We met at UQ in 2013, when we studied our first degree in Town Planning together.
I was sitting at the front of the lecture room, while he sat at the back. One day, as I was turning in my assignment, he made his first move by asking a fairly obvious question: 'are you also turning in your assignment?' He then added me on MSN, we started chatting and the rest is a love story.
We’re now a dynamic duo – he’s an architectural draftsperson and I’m a town planner.
Our wedding got postponed 3 times due to COVID-19 restrictions, but we managed to take our engagement and wedding photos at UQ!”
Miguel (Bachelor of Arts/Science ’21) and Joseph (Master of Business ’21)
Told by Miguel
“We first met at Starbucks in the city and soon realised we were studying at the same uni.
Our first activity together at UQ was figuring out how to use the printer at the Biological Sciences Library at the start of Semester 1, in 2019. Being the studious night owl he is, Joseph loved staying in the library until late, where we hung out most of the time. We also often met up for lunch – our favourite was the Japanese shop at UQU.
Another core campus memory was seeing the Jacarandas in full bloom on the day Joseph's father passed away.
UQ was the milieu for so many life memories.”
Sarah (Bachelor of Business Management/Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management ’18) and Daniel (Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons) ’18)
Told by Sarah
"Dan and I were friends from high school, but it was through our time at UQ that we fell in love.
It was even under a tree on the Forgan Smith lawns that we had 'the chat' about whether we wanted to risk taking the next step from friendship to see if it could be something more.
Every spare moment between classes and studying we would sit together in the Great Court. And now, almost 6 years on, we are married.
Having joined the faculty staff in 2022, I get to walk past the tree where we made it official every day."
Bo (Master of Data Science ’21) and Shitong (Master of International Economics and Finance ’21)
Told by Bo
"We were so lucky to meet at UQ and we began dating in Semester 1, 2021. We came from the same city and our universities were near each other, but we unexpectedly met on the other side of the world. Now, we are married and are back here to start a new life."
Eliza, Kirsten, Catherine and Suneeta (Class of 2016)
Told by Eliza
“We all met while doing Human Movement Studies at UQ in 2013.
We had our first anatomy and technical skills practicals together and our friendship blossomed from there.
Ten years on, the bond is still as strong as ever.
We're forever grateful for the coffees at Merlos, sausage-sizzle snacks, and study sessions in the Biological Sciences Library with my best friends.”
Victoria (Bachelor of Science ‘06, Masters of Speech Pathology ’08) and Rhys (Bachelor of Engineering ’06)
Told by Victoria
“My husband and I went to the same high school in Redcliffe and commuted to UQ together when we started there in 2003.
UQ paid him to get my wheelchair from Student Services and bring it to the car (before they built the charging bay/cage for wheelchairs in the UQ Centre carpark).
Even after I could collect my own chair from 'the cage', I found myself waiting for him at the Dorothy Hill Engineering and Sciences Library.
In 2005, we finally realised it was love.
He proposed during the final year of my Masters in 2008 and we got married in 2010. We've since had two children and I work at UQ.
Maathangi (Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Hons) ’16) and Liam
Told by Maathangi
“I met Liam in 2011 through the UQ Young Scholar's Program, affectionately known as 'nerd camp'. Following a fateful game of Quidditch, Liam was struck by my wicked kick (and personality) and I instantly fell for his sense of humour.
We tied the knot on our 10-year anniversary, with our engagement and wedding photos shot on campus to commemorate how we met.
We have now built a life together as a doctor and physiotherapist in our first home with two adorable furbabies.”
Xiang (PhD in Tourism ’12) and Terry (International Hotel and Tourism Management '05)
Told by Xiang
“I met my hubby when we were both fresh international students at UQ’s School of Tourism. This was more than 20 years ago.
We got married in 2005, when I embarked on my honours year. Our eldest son was born the year after. We then moved back to my home country when we had another son. Two years later, we decided to return to Brisbane to pursue my PhD.
We left Brisbane permanently in 2012, but we miss UQ and Brisbane every day. We will be married for 18 years next month and our 17-year-old son wants to undertake his undergraduate study at UQ as well.”
Steven (Bachelor of Law ’92), Kaylene (Bachelor of Law ’92) and friends
Told by Steven
“During the first week of classes in 1989, my friends and I sat behind Kaylene and her friends in Intro to Law.
Kaylene's friendliness and easy smile brought us all close and we shared study notes, lunches and lawyer dreams in the Law Library and Great Court.
Kaylene and I started dating the week after final-year exams, but our friends say we were obviously in love from first year!
More than 30 years later, we're still in love – but the real love story is Kaylene's love for all our uni mates.
We're now scattered across the world, but in our low times and high times, she's there.
Kaylene loves us, and we love her."
The love continues on social media!
Do you have a UQ love story?
We'd love to hear it! Share your story below to be featured in the next edition of Love at UQ or on social media.
