Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the Feb. 8, 2022 flipbook.

For many Longhorns on the hunt for love, the sprawling Forty Acres can seem like a hopeless jungle of bad dates and Tinder catastrophes. However, for some lucky students, UT can be a great place for finding their perfect match. Student couples, past and present, share their Longhorn love stories with The Daily Texan.

1995 zoology alum Bryan Elvebak and Kristin Elvebak, a 1996 professional program in accounting alum

The week before classes in fall of 1991, an 18-year-old Kristin Elvebak unpacked her bags and settled into college in her cozy Carothers dorm. Eager to explore campus and reconnect with high school friends, she ventured to Jester with her roommate to visit an old friend named Todd. 

“I lived four doors down from Todd,” Bryan said. “He had the room in the dorm that was where everybody hung out. I moseyed down there to see what was going on, and that’s where I met Kristin.”

Six months later, the now-married couple started dating.

“There was clearly some sort of connection,” Bryan said. “I don’t think either one of us would have predicted in September of that year that we would be married 30 years later.” 

Today, the couple operates an orthodontics practice together in Dallas, with Bryan behind the braces and Kristin running finances. After being married for over 20 years, the couple said their shared drive and commitment to family brings them together every day.

“There’s really no reason for us to ever split up. We’re just always happy together,” Kristin said.

Business freshman Guadalupe Tapia and finance sophomore Jason Paro

“We came from the same hometown, and I had no idea,” Paro said. “I heard through the grapevine that she was going to McCombs, so I reached out on Instagram to congratulate her.”

After their initial Instagram connection last summer, the pair — both from Lake Dallas, Texas — bonded over their shared aspirations in the business field. After a summer of flirting and exploring the Dallas museum scene, they made their relationship official at UT in August and shared their first Austin date at the Museum of Ice Cream pop-up.

“It was really fun,” Tapia said. “The ice cream was good, and there were a lot of places to take pictures.”

Bonded by similar humor and upbringings, the business-oriented couple said they try to make time for each other every day, even by accompanying each other in mundane tasks.

“Our workloads aren’t too (heavy) to the point where we have to say, ‘I can’t see you this week,’” Paro said. “We’ve been able to make time, even if it’s just doing our work in the same room … or going to the (Perry Casteñeda Library) together.”

Engineering freshman Nivin Sunesh and studio art freshman Stacy Nguyen

As high school seniors living in Dallas, Sunesh and Nguyen were thrilled to receive their acceptance letters from UT. After hearing the good news, they both joined online chat groups to meet fellow classmates — including the app Patio, where the pair sparked an immediate connection after Sunesh complimented Nguyen’s hair.

“We just clicked,” Nguyen said. “We could talk about literally everything under the sun. We both have strict parents, so for the first few months before we moved to UT, we were basically long distance even though we were 30 minutes away.”

Since arriving at UT in the fall, the couple said they enjoy making memories at iconic Austin spots on and off campus.

“The first week we came to UT, we went to Littlefield Fountain when it was really late at night,” Sunesh said. “We just laid there and talked about us, life and everything.”