My name is Amalia. I am a Mercy College Alumna, Class of 2015, and I found love at Mercy. On September of 2011, I arrived at the Marriott Hotel in Westchester where I was going to be staying for the next school year. It was there where I met the love of my life. Levaughn, just like me, had recently gotten out of a relationship and also attended Mercy to be away from home. Over time we became close “friends”, even though he was not interested in being my friend at all; he wanted more than that. Suddenly we started to spend a lot of time together. He had a car but he would take the shuttle from the hotel to the school campus just to sit next to me. We hung out a lot, we ate together, went to the gym together, studied together, we did everything together. He was (still is) a true gentleman. But I still did not want to date him. He was someone I liked hanging out with, I was comfortable with him and I liked having him around. There was a night we were hanging out in the hotel, he received a phone call from a girl who was very much interested in him. That night I found out I wanted to be with him just as much as he wanted to be with me. That night I realized how much I actually liked him. Seeing him on the phone with someone else made me jealous and I was not going to let anyone take what was meant to be mine. It was at that same moment he finally saw that I wanted him. He says he planned that, and I’m not sure whether he did or not but it worked. He had me right where he wanted me, I was jealous. On January 4th, 2012 he asked me to be his girlfriend. He looked at me in the eyes, he grabbed my hands and I said yes. I had so many emotions going through my body, I was nervous, scared, and excited. That has been by far one of the best decisions I have made. I trust him, and I know he is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. What made me fall in love with him was his patience and his amazing personality. Over the years it has been hard because we are a long distance relationship. We have managed to make it through 6 consecutive years even though we are 88 miles apart. I am beyond excited to see what the future holds for us. I am so glad I went to Mercy College because it definitely changed my life. Every day I think what would have my life been like had I not went to Mercy. Mercy plays a big role in our relationship because that is where we created some of our most unforgettable moments.
Contributed by Amalia Ellis