No two 51社区 student experiences are the same, but the shared moments and paths crossed shape futures in unexpected ways. For Kasey Daniel, BA 鈥12, MED 鈥14, and Russell Morrow, BSC 鈥12, MED 鈥14, it was a shared leadership experience and serving their fellow students where they found love鈥攂oth personally and professionally.
The two met in the summer of 2011 while serving as leaders for Bobcat Student Orientation (BSO), a month-long program that brings incoming first-year students to the Athens Campus to prepare them for their transition to OHIO.
Each year, about 45 undergraduates are selected to serve as BSO leaders who welcome and guide OHIO鈥檚 newest Bobcats and their families through the orientation process and activities.
鈥淔or one solid month, these students are with the same 45 people all the time,鈥 explains Jenny Klein, OHIO鈥檚 executive director of academic advising and graduation plans, who oversaw BSO for several years and worked with Daniel and Morrow. 鈥淭hey really get to know each other. It鈥檚 like a fast-forming best friend scenario.鈥
Morrow served his first stint as a BSO leader in the summer of 2010 and, as a returning BSO leader in 2011, was assigned first-time leaders to mentor. One of his mentees was Daniel.
Over the course of the summer, the two become close friends with each other and fellow BSO leaders, and by the end of fall quarter, Daniel and Morrow began dating.
鈥淏SO love. That鈥檚 what we call it,鈥 Klein says. 鈥淓very summer, we had at least one couple. BSO brings together students who likely wouldn鈥檛 have met otherwise.鈥
While falling in love with one another, Daniel and Morrow also began falling in love with working with students.
鈥淥ur first taste of careers in higher education were a result of BSO and seeing people, like Jenny Klein, who worked professionally with students,鈥 Daniel says. 鈥淏SO kind of illuminates that a little bit. For me, it did.鈥
Both Daniel and Morrow dedicated much of their student years at OHIO serving and working with students鈥攁nd gradually shifting their career aspirations toward higher education. Daniel served as a peer mentor for OHIO鈥檚 Learning Communities, taught in the program as a graduate student and worked in the Allen Student Advising Center.
鈥淚 really enjoyed helping other Bobcats figure out their place or direction,鈥 she says.
As a graduate student, Morrow worked in a program designed to help low-income students and students with disabilities prepare for college, and, as an undergraduate, he volunteered as an OHIO Out-of-State Ambassador.
鈥淭hat was really cool 鈥 just being able to help students find a place on campus, particularly when they come from high schools and places where no one else is from,鈥 he recalls.
They served another summer together as BSO leaders before starting graduate school, remained together throughout their graduate studies and even dated long distance for six months while Daniel was finishing her graduate degree and Morrow was working in California.
The two reunited at the University of California, Davis, where Morrow worked in first-year advising and Daniel was a program coordinator for orientation.
It wasn鈥檛 long before Ohio came calling them home. These Bobcat sweethearts returned to Athens in October 2016 to tie the knot in the place where their love story began. Two months later, they moved to Columbus for new positions in higher education.
Today, Morrow is the assistant director of multicultural student affairs at Denison University; Daniel is the director of advising and learning support at Columbus College of Art & Design.
鈥淲hat I really love about my job is helping students through crisis, and that鈥檚 a lot of what I do,鈥 says Daniel. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard but really rewarding.鈥
Working with students also led Morrow to start Project SLEYA (Service Learning Experience for Young Adults), a nonprofit organization designed to inspire civil engagement and social change through travel and service.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of an extension of what I learned I really love to do,鈥 he says.
Since the two graduated, they鈥檝e stayed connected to the people who鈥檝e been on this journey with them since day one.
鈥淪o much of our social circle are people that we worked with at orientation or we had different experiences with at OU,鈥 says Morrow. 鈥淚鈥檓 pretty sure that every year for the past few years we鈥檝e been a part of a wedding with someone who we did orientation with.鈥
鈥淚 think OU just has these deep webs,鈥 Daniel adds. 鈥淲e moved to California, and our supervisor was an OU alum鈥攁ll the way across the country. Now where I work, there鈥檚 a whole little group of OU people. We didn鈥檛 go to OU at the same time and meet, and we didn鈥檛 know each other or maybe didn鈥檛 know much about each other before starting to work together. But I think it makes an instant bond. There鈥檚 just an affinity there.鈥
And they鈥檝e stayed connected to Klein, who was there for their wedding鈥攁nd even gave a toast鈥攁nd who, Morrow says, 鈥渉as been a very important person in our relationship together but also to each of us individually.鈥
鈥淪he was a very constant presence and force in my life for quite a few years,鈥 Daniel says, noting not only the career advice and wisdom Klein offered her but also the example she set as a higher education professional. 鈥淪he鈥檚 incredible.鈥
Daniel and Morrow had a full-circle moment with Klein last fall, running into her during OHIO鈥檚 Homecoming 2021 festivities and introducing her to their son, Quincy, who was born in September 2020.
鈥淲hen she was meeting Quincy, it was like, wow, you were sort of responsible for him,鈥 Daniel laughs. 鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for you, he might not exist!鈥
Like many 51社区 faculty and staff, Klein has often seen love bloom among Bobcats inside and outside of the classroom. Being a part Daniel and Morrow鈥檚 story is special.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just so neat to be a part of someone鈥檚 life when they鈥檙e figuring out who they are,鈥 Klein says. 鈥淚 was there when Kasey and Russell were figuring out who they were. 鈥 And now, they鈥檙e my professional colleagues, which I love.鈥
Share your OHIO love story! Beginning Valentine鈥檚 Day, Monday, Feb. 14, and continuing through OHIO鈥檚 Founders Day on Friday, Feb. 18, share the experience(s) that made you fall in love with 51社区, and you鈥檒l be eligible to win a two-night stay and dinner at the 51社区 Inn.