Written by Tianna Parubotchy
Finding love at uni is a tale as old as time but in today’s day and age, it might not always be your conventional love story.
I’m Tianna and I met my partner, Jake, through my study at Charles Sturt Bathurst!
Well kind of…
At uni meeting new people and making new friends is one of the best parts of the experience! It’s so important to get out of your comfort zone, try new things, and expand your social circles. And somewhere along the way you might even meet ‘the one’ but no promises!
I met my partner Jake at a housewarming party for one of our mutual friends we both knew through uni. I had just finished my final subjects and he was in his second year. Somehow we had never crossed paths even though we had attended a lot of the same campus events (the first COVID lockdown may have also had something to do with that).
It definitely wasn’t love at first sight. Sure we had a quick chat but neither of us could have expected where we would be almost four years later!
Things headed to the apps (of course) and we started talking. We hung out at a few uni events and after our first date, I really knew he was someone special.
Over the last few years, we have been on one crazy adventure after the next. Jake was by my side when I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in Communications (Theatre Media) with Charles Sturt.
Then my partner hit pause on his studies while we moved overseas!
We lived and worked in the UK for over 6 months. We stayed in a three story share house with a bunch of quirky characters and had the opportunity to make so many new friends and incredible memories.
After 6 months in the UK we backpacked across Europe for a month. Travelling on trains and buses, staying in hostels and getting to visit 12 different countries.
One of my favourite moments from the trip was when Jake surprised me with dinner at a 5 star restaurant right by the canals of Venice.
Once we made it back to Australia we decided to move up to Townsville for a few months and catch up on all the sunshine we had missed while in the UK.
While there we got to snorkel and swim with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef on Magnetic Island!
After all of our adventures, things have come full circle and we are back home in Bathurst and back to our studies at Charles Sturt.
My partner is currently finishing his Bachelor of Psychology and starting Honors next year and I’ve come back to study a Masters in Teaching! We definitely go on a lot of study dates at the library.
Jake encouraged me to join the Charles Sturt women’s soccer team. So now we both spend our spare time playing for the Charles Sturt soccer club CSUFC and have made some amazing friends.
Our time together has been a journey but it’s been incredible and I can’t wait to see where we end up next. We both definitely have Charles Sturt to thank for that!
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative
