In the midst of honeymoon-stage bliss, there’s no better validation of your budding romance than an algorithmic guarantee that you aren’t only compatible, but a perfect 100% match.
Stanford sophomores Lucy and Asia were the lucky lovebirds who opened their emails from the Marriage Pact last fall to see just that. They tell me the origin story of their romance, which began immediately after moving into Stanford for their freshman year.
Lucy:
Asia and I lived a couple doors down from each other in our freshman dorm. I had a family friend who Asia had met for like, 3 minutes at a summer program, but they had exchanged numbers. And at the very start of the year, my friend stopped by to say hi, and was like, “Hey Lucy, meet my friend Asia!”
So we all hung out, and it was all platonic at first, but things changed as we started talking more. So we formed a little friend group, but we also had this evolving romance at the same time.
Asia:
We kissed for the first time on the 27th of September. Which was super early on into the quarter.
Lucy:
We kissed the same night after I had been at a Pitbull concert, in which I was in a full bald cap and mustache.
Asia:
She wasn’t wearing it when we kissed.
They spent the next couple of weeks in a more-than-friends, less-than-lovers stage, until Lucy decided it was time to step up.
Lucy:
I wanted to take her out on a real date.
Asia:
By this time, we had been hanging out for a while, and had feelings for each other, and had even kissed, but weren’t technically dating.
Lucy:
So I planned and set up a surprise picnic in this pretty hilly area by the side of the Dish. I set up all the food, a bunch of candles and lights and arrangements.
I had to get one of my friends to wait there while I went to get Asia. She had no idea where we were going. I took her biking, and I made her bike up this big hill to get there, and she was so out of breath. She was probably like, “Where could we possibly be going that would require so much effort?” But then we got to the top, and it was really nice.
Asia:
I was so shocked. Getting up that hill was tough, but it was amazing.
Lucy and Asia shared the first things they noticed about each other that drew them together so quickly.
Asia:
The first thing I remember about Lucy is that she’s super friendly, incredibly outgoing, easy for anybody to love her. But more than that, she does such a good job of making everyone she talks to feel special and feel listened to.
An example was at the very start of the quarter, during NSO, when she asked me how I was doing. I told her I was feeling kind of anxious and just having a hard time. So she went out and bought me some chocolates and surprised me. And this was before we had ever kissed or anything. She just always knows how to make someone who isn’t having a good time feel better.
Lucy:
I don’t know if I can top that. But Asia is such a genuinely kind person. She has these unwavering values of being compassionate, and giving every single person a valid space to share what they’re feeling.
She’s super emotionally intelligent, and cares about everyone, and it’s such an admirable trait. And obviously this translates into her being an amazing girlfriend. She has such genuine kindness that I could only try to replicate.
Less than 2 months into their relationship, Lucy and Asia unassumingly filled out the Marriage Pact survey as a rite-of-passage as Stanford frosh.
Lucy:
We had literally never expected to get each other.
Asia:
When we saw each other’s initials, we were like, “That’s so funny, that’s hilarious.”
Lucy:
I wasn’t 100% convinced it was her, since her initials are pretty common, but it was just too much of a coincidence.
And when the actual match announcement came, I think we were together. We were already kind of expecting to match at this point, but when we saw our names next to the 100%, it was so crazy.
Asia:
At one point we thought it was a little suspicious that it was so perfect. We weren’t expecting to get each other at all when we filled it out, so it was really cool.
Lucy and Asia tell me that part of their surprise came from the fact that their answers weren’t identical for more than a few survey questions. Nonetheless, the couple have no doubt they make a compatible pair.
Asia:
We’re very similar in terms of values.
Lucy:
We both really value having fun. We’re very spontaneous, very adventurous, and definitely want to experience a lot of things. We also like to make light of things when we can. We find each other quite funny.
Asia:
I feel like in some ways we can be very independent, too. We can find balance between being with each other and having our space.
Lucy:
I also think Asia is very emotional and sensitive in a great way, and super affectionate and supportive. I feel like I’ve learned a lot from her in that way. And she’s able to be serious in a time when I want to make light of something, which I think makes for a good mix of sincerity and lightheartedness.
Parting ways last summer was bittersweet—given that they live on opposite sides of the globe—but the distance made their reunion in September all the more special.
Lucy:
Asia is from D.C., and I’m from Australia. At the end of this summer, we were planning to meet in San Francisco before moving into Stanford, but I flew out early to D.C. and surprised her there for a week.
Asia:
Lucy obviously has been to the beaches in Australia and loves the ocean, but she was home during the summer which is winter there, so it was too cold. So we drove like an hour and a half to the bay and had a little beach day.
Lucy:
Oh my god, that was really fun. It was such a beautiful day. I’ve visited her in D.C. more than once now, which have been some really amazing times. I’ve gotten to meet her family and her pets and everything.
Asia:
Lots of road trips, lots of trips downtown, lots of adventures. We have a lot of fun.
Lucy and Asia are now a few weeks into their sophomore fall, with the Marriage Pact quickly approaching. They’re eager to see if this year’s survey could spark a new friendship—though their last result might be hard to top.
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