Shared passions and shared degrees: A Birkbeck love story

My fiancé and I met through Birkbeck - sort of. We first crossed paths at a book launch in Cardiff; I was studying there at the time, and Nick was doing his undergrad in Archaeology at Birkbeck. We got talking and eventually landed on the topic of University Challenge, as he was managing Birkbeck’s team that year. For me, this was the coolest thing ever - I love University Challenge!

One evening, a year and a half later, I was watching University Challenge and Birkbeck was one of the competing teams. It reminded me reminded me of my chance encounter with Nicholas, and the joy of meeting someone with the same passion for the show as me. I messaged Nick out of the blue to see if he was still involved with the Birkbeck team, and to the complete surprise of us both, a friendship, then relationship, began to blossom.  

Hearing about Nick’s time at Birkbeck led me to apply for my Master’s - a dream I’d had for a while, but didn’t have the courage to act on. We both applied and started part-time courses, Nick in Classical Archaeology, me in Cultural and Critical Studies.  

Doing our Masters together felt like a new shared adventure. Netflix dates became library dates, conversations became academic discussions, we both thrived being in a learning environment again.  

Studying, alongside full-time work was busy and came with its own challenges but having a partner going through the same thing made the whole thing much easier. Sadly, my dad passed away during my course, and Nick was there - he pointed me to support services at Birkbeck and gave me a shoulder to cry on. I truly couldn’t have done it without him.

We’ve been together five years and watch University Challenge every week, always cheering on Birkbeck. And now, we’re Birkbeck graduates together too.