2025 Alumni Love Stories

Arvin Javier ’10 and Minna Abdel-Wahab Javier ’09

Arvin and I first crossed paths during our freshman year, in 2005. We were introduced by Arvin’s Hayes-Healy roommate. Neither of us would have guessed that this roommate would one day stand beside Arvin as his best man at our wedding.

Though our relationship didn’t begin immediately, our friendship grew during countless shared moments — study sessions in the library, lunch breaks in the cafeteria, and the occasional off-campus party. It wasn’t until a chance encounter one Monday night, at the 540 Club on Clement Street, that our connection deepened.

Our first official date was at a San Francisco Giants game — a surprising choice, as I later discovered that Arvin was a long-time Oakland A’s fan. Despite our opposing team loyalties, our bond would flourish.

In 2017, we tied the knot, surrounded by our family and friends. Since then, we have called Oakland our home, and have built a life together that reflects our unique partnership. We’ve learned that a great relationship isn’t about being perfect. It’s about learning to embrace and enjoy each other’s differences. Arvin is the laid-back, dog-loving surfer, and me, Minna, is the studious, type A healthcare professional. We’re living proof that love thrives in the most unexpected combinations.

At the end of 2024, we welcomed our first child together, marking the start of an exciting new chapter.

Marianna H. Chu ’94 and Shawn R. Smith ’95

Shawn and I first met in the fall of 1992 at a gathering for Delta Sigma Pi, a co-ed business fraternity. He walked into the pledge class holding hands with his girlfriend, and I thought they were a cute couple. The pledge class was only 12 students, so we became close friends. 
 
Years after graduation, I was living with a boyfriend, and when that ended, I needed a place to stay. I reached out to my closest friend and fellow Delta Sigma brother, Mike. He and Shawn were sharing a flat. They welcomed me to stay as long as I needed — I thought it would be a week at most. It turned into seven years of being roommates with Shawn and Mike. During our years as roommates, we traveled together, went to happy hours, tried out new restaurants, and went scuba diving.
 
In 2004, the three of us planned an epic trip to Egypt, but Mike had to back out at the last minute. Shawn and I went ahead on our own, and that trip changed everything. During a sunrise hike up to Mount Sinai, I sensed Shawn’s ever-so-slight, subtle flirting. Initially, I chalked it up to the novelty of being in a foreign land, so I brushed it off. We were having an amazing time and each new experience was drawing us a little closer. Later in the trip, while camping on the beach by the Red Sea, I took a chance and flirted back. By the time we returned from Egypt, we knew something special had happened.  
 
Two years after Egypt, Shawn and I got married, moved to Washington, and have since built a beautiful life together. This year, we celebrated our 18th anniversary with our three kids. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that the guy who walked into Delta Sigma Pi holding hands with his girlfriend would one day become my husband and father to my children! Life is full of surprises, so take a chance — Shawn and I did.

Alia Al-Sharif ’11, ’13 and Cameron McDonald ’10

While we both had connections to San Francisco, we didn’t live in San Francisco until we came to USF. We met on campus visiting a mutual friend, Chris Begley, in Toler Residence Hall in 2009. 

Chris was a close friend to both of us, and helped break the ice. He was the person of honor at our wedding in 2015.

As students at USF, we had something else in common that has been the bedrock of our relationship — our values. We both deeply believe in social justice, have a global perspective, and love the city of San Francisco. 

As students, our USF love has inspired action. As part of the ASUSF Senate Mission Committee, we co-authored a resolution to support the creation of an interfaith prayer space on campus, which is now called the Multi-faith Meditation Room.

Our USF love took us to Berlin, Germany to study abroad.

After graduating, our USF love has inspired our travels to national parks across the country and inspiring places around the globe, including Alia’s ancestral home in the middle east.

Our USF love has made it possible to take risks while supporting each other as small business owners. Alia brings people together through community engagement at Civic Edge Consulting, and Cameron brings people together to connect and celebrate (with good beer) at Enterprise Brewing Company. 

Since we first met on campus, our relationship has been tested. 17 years later, we can confidently say that it is our shared values that have gotten us through.

Each chapter has looked so different in our relationship, and we are currently swept up in the magic of raising our 6-year-old in the city. 

Our love is deep and unconditional — and it’s from the well of our shared values, strengthened at USF, that we keep choosing each other and carry our relationship forward each and every day.

Judy Baruh Colton ’75 and Brad Colton ’76

For 50 years, my husband has told me that the moment he laid eyes on me, he knew I was the one. Not once has he ever wavered from that belief.

September 7, 1974, was my first day of graduate school for education administration at USF. I was one of the first to arrive, and as I sat watching others enter the room, two men walked in and one of them caught my eye. That was the moment for Brad!

Two weeks later, while he was sitting next to me, I accidently wrote my name in what I thought was my new book. It turned out to be his. This exchange was our beginning.

Days later, the same man said, “I have a funny story to tell you at lunch.” I can still picture the table where we sat by the window. He looked at me and said, “I am named after your father.”

I doubted him at first, but as it turned out, his mother knew of the Baruh family and his father thought that my father had been handsome, a superb athlete, and a lot of fun. He was told who he was named after when he was quite young; but didn’t really make the connection until he saw my name in his book. 

We later discovered other connections, such as having attended the same synagogue in San Francisco, my father’s parents being at my husband’s Bar Mitzvah, and his mother having dated one of my uncles. Yet, our paths never crossed until we met at USF.

Coincidentally, both of us would work at San Rafael High School at different times. I, Judy, would spend my career at San Rafael High School and served as the principal from 1999-2010, and retired after 31 years. Thank you, USF, for my husband and a very successful and fulfilling career! Go Dons!

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