Monica (Nelson) '07 and Ryan Devlin, '05

Ryan and I met in 2005 during a January Term trip to Spain with Professor Juan Gomez, where we studied the the Arab legacy on the history, architecture, religion and culture of the Andalusia region. I was a sophomore sociology major involved in SPURS and Greek life and looking forward to spending a semester abroad in Costa Rica; he was a senior finance major, and had just helped the Wildcats win a National Championship as an assistant football coach. We both wanted to get to know one another better. So, one day on our trip we finally started chatting, and spent what we now consider our first date walking along the cliffs of Ronda and watching the sunset. From then on, we've been inseparable.

Although my semester abroad and Ryan's career in college and professional football often separated us by distance over the next five years, we didn't let that keep us apart. We were married July 10, 2010 in the academic quad on the south side of Melrose Hall with Ty Matthews, former Linfield quarterback and team chaplain, as our officiant and many Linfield friends standing by. We both treasure the experiences we had and the friendships we formed at Linfield, and love to root for the 'Cats.