 Zac and Kat
Our second featured couple, Kathryn Szymanski '09 and Zachary Dawkins '10, met in 2005. Zac shared their story with us:
"In 2005 a recently graduated from high school and filled with excitement about the new beginnings the college life has to offer, a young gentleman and a young lady set out on the opening weekend Flyer's Service project not knowing their lives were about to change… forever. She wore a black Fender (a popular guitar manufacturing company) t-shirt that caught his eye. He wore a black Gibson (a popular guitar manufacturing company) baseball cap that caught her eye. Inspired by the prospect of new beginnings, she pushing herself outside of her comfort zone and sparked up a conversation with the young man in a Gibson hat. They discussed music equipment that afternoon, but weeks would pass before they would speak again.
 Over the next year they began Instant Messaging on a now archaic program called AOL Instant messenger. It was official- they were internet buddies (this was just before Facebook became all the craze). Their sophomore year they grew apart. He became active in student organizations like STAND, the social justice student organization, while she focused on her academics in the college of business, as well as her part-time position as a lab assistant in the music department.
At the beginning of their junior year, he was asked to provide musical entertainment for the International Student Association’s annual Eat Around the World dinner. The girl in the Fender t-shirt never far from his mind, he insisted that she join him in his endeavor to play for the dinner. She graciously agreed. Still insistent to focus on her academics without the distractions of a boyfriend they remained friends.
After he’d been asked to join the Koinonia core team along with several of her close friends, he seized the opportunity to recruit her to join them on the retreat. She graciously agreed after many attempts to convince her to go.
In his junior year, after realizing all his electives were in music and none of his core courses for Criminal Justice were completed, he resolved to change majors from Criminal Justice to Music Merchandising (a decision not at all influenced by a certain lab technician). After several dates following the Koinonia retreat, many hours spent studying in the music lab, and a mutual group of friends they were officially a couple and remain together today."
Best wishes on a happy future, Zac and Kat!
Pictures from their days on campus during Koinonia at the LaSalle Manor:
 
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