Falcon Flames

Falcon

Flames

“As of December 2009, there were 10,565 BGSU Falcon Flame couples living throughout the world.”

By Morgan Ward | Spring 2018

Being in a relationship comes withits ups and its downs. Some people have found their Falcon Flames at the University and are spreading the love by telling their stories to others.

A Falcon Flame is a couple that both attended the University and eventually decided to get married.

As of December 2009, there were 10,565 BGSU Falcon Flame couples living throughout the world. This translates to 21,130 students meeting their future spouse while on campus or after graduation. Legend has it that a couple that kisses on the seal at midnight will remain Falcon Flames forever.

One couple have strived to be Falcon Flames before even coming to college. Harrison and Hanna Renny, both from Bowling Green, Ohio have been married since the summer of 2018. Hanna graduated from the University in December 2017.

They met in third grade during recess. Hanna was chasing around a friend of Harrison’s and eventually she shoved Harrison over the balance beam pole. “After that we didn’t interact with each other until summerof freshman year. She had a crush on me,” Harrison said. Though he didn’t pick up in it at first.

On their fourth unofficial date they planned to go on an official date to Stella’s in Perrysburg and announced they were a couple. Their plans got switched around when they were invited to Hanna’s uncle’s house for ribs and wild mushrooms gathered while hunting earlier in the day.

During their second year of dating, the pair went to a neighborhood where there was a Christmas light contest of who had the best decorations. “I stopped in front of this house that I thought was beautiful. At that moment I was looking at the house, but I started to turn towards Harrison he was on his knees with a rock. I started to freak out. He then stood up and said ‘just kidding,’” Hanna said.

Little did she know two years down the road they would end up at the same spot once again and this time they were there for the real deal. After a trip to Best Buy, they decided to go look at the lights in the neighborhood they earlier stumbled upon.

The house they saw two years previously was still standing. Hanna looked to Harrison, who was on his knees with a box in his hand.

“Hanna, I love you very much. Will you marry me?” he asked.

Despite never thinking it would happen, the two cried during the moment. They decided to have a private courthouse wedding.

“We went to the courthouse because we wanted to have a private wedding. We wanted to get married this year, but didn’t have the money to have a wedding,” Harrison said.

“Being in a relationship is hard work. Make sure to find time to be happy and enjoy the time you have with each other.”

The couple plans on having a smaller reception towards the summer of their one year anniversary. Their family and friends will be in attendance. After they both graduated college, they decided to move to Cleveland. “Living in Bowling Green was fun, but we were in college then. All we did was homework and work.

Living here has given us more time to really spend quality time together,” Hanna said. “As advice to guys who are looking to date and getting into a serious relationship, try to be vulnerable. Be vulnerable in front of the person you like and make compromises,” Harrison said.

“Being in a relationship is hard work. Make sure to find time to be happy and enjoy the time you have with each other,” Hanna said. A couple that is still attending BGSU are now engaged. Cassidy Johnson and David Hull are full time students experiencing life together and living it to the fullest.

“We met at the Alpha Phi Omega recruitment event: Friday Night Lights. I was an active and he was a potential pledge. We ended up in the same group and found out our hometowns were very close together and we were both baristas,” Johnson said. “We talked about coffee shops back home. His favorite was Muggswigz. Eventually he took me there for our first date. I spilled coffee on myself. David thought it was cute, I was mortified.”

This couple has really taken the University into their relationship. They have checked things off the unofficial “BG Bucket List.” This included a full day adventure of stargazing at the Doyt stadium, running through the administration buildings sprinklers, rolling down the hill at the wolfe center, taking a shot at their favorite bar and ending the night with a kiss at the seal at Midnight under a full moon.

They only needed one more thing to become full-fledged Falcon Flames: an engagement. Hull decided to surprise her at a Greek event. “After everyone left big little reveal he hid behind the sheet and I was standing in front of it.

I was under the assumption that my friend Tori was being revealed as a second big to me. But he was the one behind the sheet with a ring. I said no like three times and told him ‘It was supposed to be Tori you a**hole’, then I finally said yes as I always have wanted to. I wasn’t exactly the easiest on him,” Johnson said.

This couple has experienced much of what life has to offer. The summer of 2018 they studied abroad together in France. They shared a studio apartment in Nantes for about four weeks and spent two weeks exploring the United Kingdom and Ireland. They also made pit stops in Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool, London and Italy.

“I loved seeing her face of wonder as we were exposed to a new adventure every day,” said Hull. A wedding close to both of their hometowns is scheduled for late September in the year 2020. They plan to have the reception at an apple orchard. Right now they are both finishing their degrees and enjoy baking pies and playing video games with friends. Falcon Flames are all over the campus and they find each other in all sorts of ways.