UAA offers countless opportunities for its students. For some, that looks like a scholarship, a study abroad trip or a degree program they can’t find anywhere else. For others, UAA provided the opportunity to find love. Two Seawolf couples — Josh and Tasha Quiett, and Clare and Alex Jorgensen — tell us their alumni love stories.

Josh and Tasha first met at West Anchorage High School in an acting class. They did a few projects together and became friends, but didn’t keep in close contact. After graduating, Tasha jumped into classes at UAA, pursuing first an Associate of Applied Sciences in culinary arts and then a B.A. in hospitality restaurant management. Josh occasionally reached out to see if they could meet, but Tasha’s schedule was packed full.

Two years later, Josh was in his first semester of the diesel power technology program and on the way to a formal event in Rasmuson Hall. As fate would have it, Tasha was leaving a class in Rasmuson Hall at the same time, and they saw each other face-to-face for the first time since high school. After this, the two of them stayed in touch, texting almost every day. Their first date? A lecture in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

“We were both really busy, but we wanted to spend time with one another, so I offered to take her to dinner beforehand and then we sat through the lecture,” Josh recalls with a grin. As first dates go, it may not seem very romantic, but their relationship thrived. Josh proposed to Tasha in August 2021 — ”super romantically,” Tasha assures me — and they were married in September 2022. Now they live together in Anchorage and hope to buy a house in the next few years. The Quietts’ advice for UAA couples? “Always be open to trying new things together.”

Clare and Alex met through UAA’s student government program, USUAA. They were both senators and had a tight-group of friends throughout their time in the program. It took two years of knowing each other, but they started dating in their senior years.

They weren’t always peas in a pod, though. In fact, they were something like rivals for a little while. “We were frequently in competition with each other, which occasionally led to some conflict. We had sort of an unspoken beef with each other,” Alex laughs. One day they drove together to a leadership development event, and the air was cleared during that short ride.

Their favorite UAA memory is speaking together at the 2020 Spring Commencement ceremony. They applied separately to be the student speaker and UAA chose both of them. During their time at UAA, Clare and Alex loved being involved with the student government and making an impact on campus. They were married in July 2021 and they’ll be celebrating five years of marriage this summer. Their advice to UAA couples is twofold. “Take advantage of the new people and new things that college offers,” says Alex, and Clare adds that it’s really important to step outside of your comfort zone. “If you’re brave, you can be rewarded beyond what you can imagine.”