Justine and Michael first met in their freshman year of college at the University of Connecticut. They were the only history majors in their dorm, so Michael wanted to meet her. He slipped a note under her door with his number and a sweet message, but sadly, Justine was out sick her second week of college. After waiting several days for her response, Michael decided to go over and knock on her door — luckily for him, she had just returned to school. He was upbeat and charming as he expressed an interest in getting to know her and discussing their shared love of history. This meet-cute ended with Michael subtly comparing Justine to Helen of Troy for her most famous trait . . . her Beauty.

They discovered during this initial chat that they only had one class in common. Despite both majoring in History, the class they had together was Geography 1302 - GIS Modeling of Environmental Change. They began spending time together while working on a project for class, and as their friendship developed, it blossomed into a deep, romantic connection. They officially became a couple on October 20, 2018.