We Met at Monash

Across the Monash University alumni community, graduates tell stories of friendships, romances or business collaborations sparked during their Monash study days. How has your Monash connection changed your life? Read about alumni who met at Monash and went on to form relationships that have continued beyond their study days.

Do you have a Met@Monash story you would like to share with the alumni community? If so, we would love to hear from you. Story submissions and photos will be published on the Monash Alumni Community website. Email your story and photos to met@monash.edu

Kristie Kou Ee-Wen and Tan Youg Lee

Kristie Kou Ee-Wen (BA(Comms) 2003) and Tan Youg Lee (James) (BComp 2003)

"James was spending his last semester there when I first stepped into Gippy (Monash Gippsland) in 2002, as we fondly remember that place as. I moved into westhouse 35 and was all ready to spend a year at a new place and to start making new friends! James moved in shortly after I did next to my room - we were housemates to begin with.

"We instantly clicked when we first spoke to each other, and from then on we often looked forward to seeing each other after classes. We would drive to Morwell and Traralgon together for breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, dinner, supper - any excuse to be able to spend time with each other!  

"We explored the vicinity near us and just love Gippy, a small town it is, but full of vitality and beautiful nature! The occasional passing of kangaroos outside the place we lived made us love our experience living there more than ever.

"We met in 2002 and it's been over 8 years and we never forget how we first met. We have a beautiful boy now named Jayden and he is 2.5 years old! We would love to bring our boy to where we first met and share the beautiful place and moments with him."

David (BSc(Hons) 1977, DipEd 1978) and Wendy (BSc 1975) Lloyd

David and Wendy Lloyd have shared an appreciation of wine since they met as Monash students. "We didn't have any money but we used to enjoy drinking wine, and David started a wine-tasting club at Monash when he was a student," Wendy said. After they married, the couple experimented by making their own wine. In 1980, they obtained a liquor licence to sell the wine they produced as 'garagistes' – a French term that describes small, often exclusive, backyard wine producers.

During the 80s, Wendy worked as a teacher while David divided his time between teaching and wine industry consulting. In 1995, they moved from the backyard to the country when they bought eight acres of vines on 20 acres of land at Red Hill on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. Eldridge Estate was run down when the Lloyds bought it, but it is now internationally recognised and renowned for its excellent pinot noir. Read more about David and Wendy

Alexander Richard Olls and Kelly Hawkins

Alexander Richard Olls (BA 2010) and Kelly Hawkins (BA 2010, BA(Hons) 2011)

"Alex and I met at university and were friends through most of it. In my third year I had a horrible break up with a guy. I felt so lost, alone and just plain sad all the time.

"During that time I was invited to a wedding and there was no way in hell that I would be going alone. So I called the only guy I felt I could trust and that was Alex.

"Thankfully, I didn’t need to ask him twice. That night he was such a gentleman and I enjoyed every moment with him. As the evening continued we fell for each other even though I refused to admit it.

"He asked me out and still a little shaken about starting another relationship, I said no. He continued to ask me out for two months. Finally, I said yes and I have not regretted it since."

Shane Jackson (MBBS(Hons) 2010 and Emma Gleadhill (BA(Hons) 2011, BVA 2011)

"Emma and I met in the most romantic of circumstances - at an O-Week party at the Nott! I had previously met some of her friends during Host Scheme camp, and they brought her along on the night and introduced me. Clearly it was love at first sight, because we're still together and are celebrating five years together in two weeks time!"

Patrick and Stacey on their wedding day. Photographer: Sean Callinan

Patrick McCormick (BA 2008, BSc 2008, BSc(Hons) 2008) and Stacey Parkinson (BSc 2008, BSc(Hons) 2008)

Stacey and Patrick met on Ecology Camp in February 2003. Stacey was just starting second year, and Patrick was into his third year. Stacey first noticed Patrick when he kept continually asking lecturers questions before lunch.

Patrick tried to convince Stacey to sleep on the trampoline under the stars – a romantic gesture but Stacey did not take the hint.  

From passing notes and chatting at university over the year, Stacey and Pat only saw each other infrequently by the end of 2003. It was with the next uni camp, marine biology at Queenscliff in early 2004 that they became closer.

They began to hang out more, and Patrick considered asking Stacey out but didn’t want to wreck the friendship. It was on their third uni camp, an Australian Vegetation trip to Dunkeld in the Grampians that they first kissed – on 14 April 2004. They were married on 5 March 2010.

Dagmar Wemmering (BPrimEd 2008) and staff member Dr Amy Cutter-MacKenzie

"I graduated from Monash Frankston (Penninsula campus) as a Primary Teacher. While I was there I formed a friendship with Amy Cutter MacKenzie. As I felt that students needed to spend more time in the classroom I contacted Amy and we have been able to coordinate students to come out to our school, Red Hill Consolidated. The students from Monash were able to take Grade 6 and 4 children through a series of lessons about the importance and value of our environment. They did this through discussion and fun activities.

"Whilst I was a Grade 6 teacher, I was on a coastal camp with my students, which was the same time as Monash students were on camp at the same place. Fortunately we were again able to coordinate some fantastic marine and coastal activities with the help of Amy and Harry Briedahl. We will continue to use Monash students in our school as I feel university students need more face to face contact with children and it is great to my students to be exposed to a variety of different learning styles.

"I have also been encouraged by Amy and Harry to further my studies, which I plan to."

Andrés Villamizar and Hans Tommy Hoglund

Andrés Villamizar (BVA 2004, MEd(TESOL Int) 2010) and Hans Tommy Hoglund (MElecEng with Lulea University of Technology (Sweden) 2003)

"Tommy and I met online in late October 2003, only to discover that we were both international students at Monash University. I was finishing my Visual Arts degree with a major in painting at Caulfield and Tommy was doing his thesis in Electronic Engineering in a lab at Clayton campus. He was only meant to be here for six months on an exchange program with his university in Sweden. After a couple of weeks chatting on MSN I invited him for a sneak preview of my 'End of Degree' show - a 10-piece installation. The entrance to the Caulfield Library was the meeting point at 2 o'clock for a coffee. 

"We immediately hit it off, talked for hours and arranged to meet again two days later at the Latin American Festival on Johnston Street, where we had a ball! After hanging out for the summer, we had to part ways as Tommy was still active in the Swedish Army in the rank of Captain. However, we remained in touch and reunited six months later in Stockholm, after speaking on the phone on a daily basis. Once in Stockholm I asked the question: "Dude, what are we doing here?" and at the end of that year Tommy quit the army, enrolled in further studies in Melbourne and we moved in together. This was a massive leap of faith, as it was based on my promise that once I became a permanent resident in Australia, I would sponsor him as my partner. And I did!

"So I, a Colombian, ended up giving a Swede permanent residence in Australia. Talk about a multicultural country! We have been together for almost eight years and are now proud Australian citizens. We share our love for our little baby girl, a kitten called Alex. Oh yes, and we hope that one day we will be able to legally tie the knot surrounded by all our friends in Melbourne. You've gotta love Monash!"

Michael and Aimee on their wedding day at Monash Clayton.

Michael Grace (BSc 2007) and Aimee Grace (nee Walters) (BSc 2007)

"I met Michael in some student accommodation just before O-week in my first year (2004). 

"We found out we were both doing a science degree and had half our classes together, which made for lots of time studying together. 

"I also joined one of the clubs on campus, 'Student Life' because Michael was involved; thus more time to spend together. 

"We were dating by Easter that year and then got married at the Monash Clayton Religious Centre while we were still studying, in January 2006.

"We now have two beautiful children and are so glad God brought us together at Monash!"

Kavita Peterson and Greg McCourt

Greg McCourt (BA(Linguistics) 2010) and Kavita Peterson (BA(Linguistics) 2008), MInter&TransSt 2010)

"My partner Kavita and I first met in our linguistics class at Monash as first-years in 2005. We found out that we were both originally from Gippsland and had a lot in common so we were friends for a few years after that. It wasn't until two years later, in early 2007, when Kavita was spending a year on exchange in Tokyo at Ochanomizu Women's College, that we started to become a couple.

"I visited again later that year and then the following year, in 2008, Kavita came to visit me while I was on exchange at the University of Copenhagen. When we were both back in Australia, we moved into a share-house together with some friends and have been living together ever since. After we'd both finished our university courses, Kavita got accepted into the JET Programme in Japan so we both left our jobs (working at the same highschool) and moved to the small town of Yusuhara (on the island of Shikoku), in rural Japan. We've both been working at the same board of education office - Kavita as a coordinator of international relations and me as an English teacher.

"We're both enjoying living in a quiet little mountain town; it's beautiful and very peaceful even thought the nearest train station is an hour away. It's great both working in the same office as someone you care about. Kavita qualified as a Japanese translator through Monash but I'd only taken one semester of Japanese before coming to Japan so I've relied on her a lot for language support, especially at the start.

"Monash has given us, as a couple, the opportunity to meet one another, a respectable how-we-first-met story, the exchange opportunities that mean that we've now been to many different countries together, and the Japanese knowledge enough for Kavita to be able to get a Japanese-speaking job and for me to get a bit of a head-start on my Japanese studies here. We've just had our four-year anniversary here in Yusuhara and we're still as much in love now as we've ever been."