About the bride
Jill was born
and raised in Georgia. She has her B.A. from Berry in Political Science
and International Studies, a J.D. from Seton Hall in International and Comparative
Law, and is working towards her Ph.D. in Political Science at Georgia
State. She teaches courses in American government and constitutional law
at Macon State College. Jill enjoys the beach, dorky books, and herding
cows down on the family farm. She has two self-described crusty animals
that likely would still be sitting in shelters today if not for her love and
care. It should come as no surprise that Southern food is her favorite,
but she does have a secret love for Coke Zero and frosted sugar cookies from
Ingles.
About the groom
Will
was born and raised in Ohio. He has his B.A. and M.A. in Political
Science from Ohio University and a M.A.P. in Campaign Management and his Ph.D.
in Public Administration and Urban Studies from The University of Akron.
He has taught at Notre Dame and Ohio University in visiting positions and will
be starting as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Southeast
Missouri State University in August. Enough of the boring. Will has
an unhealthy fondness for LeBron James and the Chicago Cubs. He can eat
ice cream very quickly without getting a headache. And most importantly,
he should be CEO of Coca-Cola given the amount he's drank in the last quarter
century.
How we met
In
January 2010, Will boarded a plane for the Southern Political Science
Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta. He expected the normal conference
experience: boring panels full of self-promoting academics, mediocre food, and
lots of boredom. To make it even better, he brought with him the scariest
thing to Georgia drivers--snow and ice. During a break in the conference,
Will situated himself at a flatscreen TV in the Starbucks at the conference
hotel with five empty chairs surrounding him. Jill had been told by her
professors that the conference was going on and was encouraged to attend.
She made the trek from Barnesville through the alleged "snow storm"
and decided to reward herself with some tea. As soon as she entered the
Starbucks, Will noticed the unicorn at the conference--the attractive, well-dressed
girl that immediately grabbed his attention. Lucky for him, every seat
was taken except for the ones by him and Jill asked if she could sit.
Apparently, Will looked engrossed in his laptop doing work, but little did Jill
know that he was instead feverishly texting anyone in his phone book to figure
out how to start talking to her. After a minute or two, Will started
laughing at the newsreporter on TV discussing the "blizzard
conditions" and Jill took the opportunity to start a conversation. After
going to dinner that night, taking a long drive while trying to find Will's
hotel, and a trip to the airport the following day, Will started planning
excuses to fly to Georgia just to see her. With Will now an Elite Member
with AirTran, one could say the rest was history...