By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program
Day one at Buckley Hall is when Ajay Madkekar ’06 and Diana Flynn ’06 met as friends. But it wasn’t until senior year, just a few weeks before graduation, that they became a couple. “I like to say we met the first day and starting dating the last,” said Flynn. To be specific, it was spring break in March when Ajay and Diana shared a cruise with eight UConn classmates, many of them from Honors. “The last night on the cruise, I remember playing blackjack with the guys while Diana watched us slowly hand our money to Carnival Cruise Lines,” quipped Madkekar. “Something about losing money and not having a care in the world must have sparked Diana’s interest.” This July they plan to marry.
Their story is uniquely theirs, but not uncommon—finding your spouse in college. This is true as well in the close community of UConn Honors. Elizabeth (Somerset) McOsker ’07 met her husband, Matt McOsker ’07, their first night in Honors through a mutual Honors friend. That friend stood beside Elizabeth and Matt at the Glastonbury Hills Country Club when they married in April of 2011. The maid of honor was an Honors graduate too, and many of the guests were UConn alums.
Elizabeth (Somerset) McOsker ’07 and Matt McOsker ’07
It is the sense of community and the shared common interests that these couples attribute to Honors’ involvement in their marriages and lifelong friendships. “I feel so fortunate to have met not only my husband, but my best friends during my time at UConn,” said (Somerset) McOsker. “The smaller Honors community within the whole of the UConn community allowed me to find and make friends who were similar to me.”
Meghan (Dyer) Pavasaris ’07 and her husband, Chris Pavasaris ’07, shared their first date at a campus concert featuring a fellow Honors student. Four years later in August of 2010, at their wedding in D.C., it was an Honors classmate who saved them. After photos at the National Cathedral, the bus that shuttled the guests to the reception was supposed to return for them, but it never came. The only guest at the reception with a cell phone on was an Honors alum, who was jested for not having silenced his mobile device at a wedding. “They thought he was joking when he said it was me,” said Meghan. “We, however, were very grateful. I was glad to not have to hail a cab in a wedding dress. Though in hindsight, that would have made for some interesting pictures.”
The Pavasarises committed to marriage thousands of miles away near Montana’s remote Glacier National Park. After Chris proposed, they hoped to immediately share the exciting news with family and friends, but found cell service lacking. The front desk of their hotel offered three options: “You can drive 25 miles down the road that way or 28 miles down the road the other way. Or there’s a pay phone over there,” (Dyer) Pavasaris remembered being told. “So, we gathered all of our change to call our parents and my brothers.”
The soon-to-be Madkekars and the McOskers stayed closer to home. On a ride back to Storrs, Ajay and Diana stopped at their favorite diner and surveyed the changes to campus. “We both were humbled by all the university had given us, and it was on this trip we agreed to get married,” said Flynn. They made it official three months later after a getaway to India with Madkekar’s family. The couple planned an evening with friends during Memorial Day, but before leaving their home in New York, Ajay asked if Diana would be showcasing any of the jewelry she had bought on their trip. “She said no, and I knew this was my opportunity. …‘Well, do you want to show them this instead?’” Madkekar asked with a ring, down on one knee. Of course she said yes.
The McOskers came back to UConn as well. “It was a mild December day, and we walked through campus until we reached one of our favorite spots—the little garden area between Wilbur Cross and the Benton Museum,” said (Somerset) McOsker. “We sat on a bench to enjoy the peace and quiet, and then Matt pulled out a ring and asked me to be his wife.”
In a whirlwind four months, the couple planned a wedding to fit an open date at their venue of choice. “I think that made it less stressful because we just had to be decisive,” said (Somerset) McOsker. They celebrated their union first with a short honeymoon to New York City, followed by a trip that summer to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. It is a place Elizabeth called “beyond a doubt the most beautiful place on earth.”
The happiest place on earth was the destination for the Pavasarises, who went to Walt Disney World after their wedding. “A funny moment was utilizing the park’s ‘Magic Hours,’” said Pavasaris, “which take place overnight to avoid long lines and crowds, and realizing that we did not have as much energy as our fellow 10-year-old park goers.” (Dyer) Pavasaris remembered their rain-soaked dash through Epcot to make a dinner reservation. “We looked like drowned rats by the time we got there, but Chris still talks about that antipasto to this day, so it was worth it.”
It is humor and respect that these couples have found are necessary for successful relationships. “[Chris] is quietly hilarious,” said (Dyer) Pavasaris. Her husband noted that “communication is essential.” It’s also important to value the little things. “I love Meg’s ability to fall asleep in any situation, no matter how stressful,” said Pavasaris; a trait he called inspiring.
“My favorite thing about Ajay is the way he thinks,” said Flynn. “He’s very analytical and principled, but at the same time he’s incredibly creative and spontaneous.” Madkekar truly appreciates that his fiancé can drive a stick shift. “I also really love that she laughs at most of my jokes and has an uncanny ability to make anyone in the room feel like the most important person there.”
The couples agree that marriage has taught them compromise. And even before Madkekar and Flynn walk down the aisle, they realize marriage will be a new and different chapter in their life together. “I do think it will change me,” Madkekar admitted willingly. “But that’s mostly because I will want it to.”
Return to the Fall 2012 issue of the Honors Alumni eNewsletter