During my junior year of high school in 1999, I made up my mind about where I wanted to attend college. I knew I wanted to go to school in Florida. I loved my hometown of Houston–everything from the gorgeous weather to wonderful people and food–but something told me that personal growth would require leaving home and my comfort zone. I believed that going to school in another state would make me more responsible and independent. During the summer of my junior year, I participated in the Junior Olympics in Sacramento, California. That summer, the Jumps coach from Miami–Coach Ruben–approached me about his interest in me coming to run at The University of Miami. Honestly, I didn’t know much about “The U,” but when I went on my visit that fall, I was sold. Miami is so beautiful and I knew it would be a perfect start to a new beginning. I prayed about it, discussed it with my parents and I signed to attend Miami on a full scholarship for Track & Field that Spring. I listened to my first instinct-and I’m so glad I did because it was at that school that I met the love of my life.
I remember the first time I laid eyes on him like yesterday! It was 2004 and we were on our way to the ACC Outdoor Championships. Before we departed to the airport for the meet, team members reported to the Hecht Facility. For some reason on this particular day, I kept forgetting things in my locker. I always traveled witha black book. (And no, not that “black book”!) This particular book was what I used during workouts to record all of my speed, strength and conditioning drills. I used this book as a reminder of my achievements during practice for motivation going into my race. After leaving the locker room, I stopped toward the Training Room to grab something and on my way out, I was stopped by one of Kevin’s teammates who had questions about where we were traveling. Before leaving, I turned to face the training tables, and that is when I noticed him. I don’t know why, but I could not stop staring! I felt like a child who just received a gift from her parents that I’d been asking for all year, but this was reality. I knew at that moment I found the man God had for me–the man I had prayed for all these years. His teammate noticed how big of a grin I had on face, so I snapped out of it and returned to the bus to leave.
Weeks passed and I still hadn’t worked up the nerve to speak to him. One day, my roommate Chinela Davis, who is still one of my very good friends, gave his roommate my number. I was going to eventually, but my roommate knew how stubborn I was and took the initiative to do it herself. I’m so glad she did because the next day he called me and asked me out on a date. We went to see a movie with one of our favorite actors Denzel Washington and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
Someone once asked me how we keep our relationship so strong and real? I responded,”The key to keeping a relationship is to stay grounded in the word of God. The Bible will teach you and give you wisdom, knowledge and understanding about everything.”
For more of Kevin and Wiande’s story click here.
