I first met Kelly through email when our college volleyball coach asked me to reach out to her to help make sure she picked WashU and became a BEAR. I was happy to do it and remember talking about how Kelly was excited to take mainland road trips as those are really not a thing on Oahu. Luckily for all of us, and especially me, Kelly did choose WashU. Competing together and spending so much time together off the court as teammates do, made us super close very quickly. I’m sure the fact that she could match my intensity and loudness on the court (as pictured) helped bond us too. We became best friends in our first year and lived together the next 3 years. I can’t imagine my 4 years at WashU or my life after without Kelly. She is so fun, sweet, caring, and determined. Matt and I have met up with her and Nick several times for different trips and had a blast. We laugh a lot, catch up, and explore. I can truly be myself with Kelly. She is such a special friend and I am so grateful she is a big part of my life!
When I moved to Philadelphia, I was excited to find some new board game Meetups to join. Juliet and I met at one and immediately connected over our love of board games and how nice we thought each other was. We went to another board game meetup and started hanging out to do other things too. Our friendship was blooming. When Covid hit, we moved our fun online and even found a way to play one of our favorite games, Avalon. Matt and I helped Juliet move into her new apartment in the summer of 2020. This was an exciting move especially because it meant we now lived 10 minutes from each other! Since then, we have gotten to spend countless hours together and have bonded over many more things including our love of Survivor. Juliet is so much fun and truly cares about the people in her life. I am very lucky to be one of them and so happy to have her by my side!
My brother Alex is the reason why I want to have two kids instead of one because my idea of life and growing up is that it isn’t even possible without someone like him. Alex is the kindest and funniest person I know which is why I strive to be that way too. Growing up he looked out for me and taught me things, we caused trouble and laughed about it after. I remember sitting in the back of the van with him singing along with songs we heard on the radio or just improvising and making up our own. He has been a constant source of inspiration for me musically and I still send him my ideas for feedback. Alex, Dave, and I were a trio and when I imagine them I see their smiling and laughing faces because that's what we did all the time. He is the definition of an amazing brother and I love him a bunch!
I wouldn’t really say that I met Dave at a certain point in my life, he was just always there like a brother. We attended grade school together and by third grade I think we were pretty officially bros. He lived only 12 minutes from me and we always asked our parents if we could hang out and go over each other's houses. One time Dave even biked over, a trek which was mind blowing at that age. We played in the school band together from 4th to 8th grade, then shifted from trumpet and sax to guitar and bass. For the next 15 years, we would do everything together and laugh more than imaginable. When you’ve been through as much as Dave and I have, nothing can ever weaken the relationship and no matter how much time goes by we just pick right back up where we left off.
Erich and I met when I started attending Rowan University in 2011 for classical performance. Every Wednesday we had a masterclass where we would play prepared pieces in front of classmates to give and receive feedback. I could feel, when Erich was playing, that he and I were speaking from similar places in our hearts and I knew that it would be really special to work with him. This connection was confirmed when I learned he grew up in Melville, NY while I had grown up in Millville, NJ. We were peas in a pod hanging around the music building all day with the other guitarists just practicing and playing hacky sack. Since our time at Rowan, we’ve visited each other several times for long stays and keep in touch regularly on Facebook. He is one of the greatest people on earth and I’m honored to call him my friend.