{"id":2332,"date":"2011-02-14T10:20:26","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T15:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2017-04-11T16:33:02","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T20:33:02","slug":"romancing-the-raider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2011\/02\/14\/romancing-the-raider\/","title":{"rendered":"Romancing the Raider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valentine\u2019s Day is a time to celebrate with the one you love. For many Wright State alumni, that someone special is twice as nice, being a fellow Wright State graduate.<\/p>\n

Read about two alumni couples and their tales of how they fell for and married green and gold. Wright State is changing lives.<\/p>\n

A lesson on chemistry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/a>

Brandon and Romena Holbert found each other in a chemistry class at Wright State.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chemistry.<\/p>\n

She had done well enough in this class in high school, but was still wary of the college-level course. When the professor began to speak, Romena Holbert was at the ready, pen in hand, capturing every syllable that tumbled out of the professor\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n

In the last row, out of the corner of her eye, she spied someone whom she dismissed at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was this guy, sitting in the back of the room, and he had this Pizza Hut box. He was just listening and watching the professor\u2014kind of like he was watching TV,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, that dismissal seemed perhaps a bit too hasty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got our first tests back. He got an A. I got a B,\u201d she said with a curious smile. \u201cAnd there he was with his pizza box again! And there I was, frantically trying my best to get an A. He\u2019s so casual and laid back, but apparently quite smart. I thought he\u2019d be a good person to get to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she struck up a conversation with him after class, never would she have dreamed that he would be \u201cthe one.\u201d Romena (\u201901 B.S., \u201903 M.Ed.) married her Raider, Brandon (\u201902 B.S., \u201909 M.B.A.), in 2003. They raise their three children less than 10 minutes from Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an incredible experience,\u201d sighs Romena, who just earned her Ph.D. \u201cWithout Wright State, none of this would have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lifelong enlistment<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In 1972 Nils and Cindy Young met at Wright State University in the Allyn Hall Cafeteria and haven’t looked back since.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Wright State University first began classes in September of 1964, Nils Young was there. When the Navy called in 1968, Nils was there. And in 1972, when Cindy sat down with a group of friends in the Allyn Hall Cafeteria (now The Hangar)\u2026yes, Nils was there.<\/p>\n

Majoring in German, Young caught the eye of Cindy, a fine arts major, when he mused that learning languages was \u201clike learning music\u2014you have to have an ear for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus began their friendship. One year later, just before Thanksgiving of 1973, Nils asked Cindy to join him for life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wore my mother\u2019s wedding dress, which was made by my father\u2019s mother,\u201d says Cindy. Wearing a piece of family history, Cindy took the journey to her family\u2019s future, joining her former military man for a lifelong enlistment.<\/p>\n

Both successful not only in their studies at Wright State, but also in their careers with the university, Nils (’82 B.A.) recently retired, while Cindy (’82 B.F.A.) still shares her talents with the university working for the Boonshoft School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State University has been a part of our family for our entire life together,\u201d says a sentimental Cindy. \u201cIt has educated us and our children, and given us a living for nearly our entire married life. Wright State University truly changed our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t