For many Boiler Gold Rush Alumni, reminiscing on Boiler Gold Rush (BGR) is not just about leading the traditions tour for your new students or attending sessions, while both are still integral to BGR, it's about meeting lifelong friends, creating lasting memories, and for some, finding their person.
This Valentine’s Day, Orientation Programs is excited to spotlight love stories that began in the middle of BGR’s events, heartfelt traditions, and student leader trainings. Whether it was meeting in Cary Quad, connecting over Zoom, or sharing a TL group, these alumni have one major thing in common, they established their relationship through the same program that welcomed them to Purdue.
Melissa Lavella (‘08) and Nick Lavella (‘07)
Our first interaction was during the first week of BGR in August 2004; my roommate invited me to meet up with her and another friend with a different team leader group from Harrison Hall that she had attached to. This was the first-year student group that Nick was the leader for. Nick and I bonded over being out-of-staters (he from PA and I from OH), and our whole team had a blast staying up all hours during the Meijer Mania night and there must have been karaoke involved because I remember a lot of singing of the song "Rock Lobster" by the B52s. In addition to meeting Nick, I also met another fellow Harrison freshman, Neena Phadke, who became a lifelong friend as we both later served on SOC together (2007). My roommate and our other friends from Harrison became good friends with Nick and his group of friends. Nick was one of my close friends at Purdue and on breaks, he would drive me home or to campus since I was more or less on his way from Pennsylvania.
One or both of us were in a relationship from the time that we met until early 2006 when we found ourselves both single at the same time and started to date. We officially entered into a relationship in April 2006, and we have been together ever since!
Nick graduated a year before I did and went to law school at IU Indy. I graduated with my BSEE in 2008 and took my first engineering job at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis. We have been in Indianapolis together ever since! I bought our first home in Meridian Kessler in 2010, we got engaged in 2011, married in 2012, had our first baby in 2016, moved to a new home in Meridian Kessler in 2017, had our second baby together in 2018, and have had many cats and chickens together along the way. We love the life that we have built together in Indianapolis over the years and Purdue has always been, and will continue to be, the cornerstone for us!
Our favorite Purdue Memories together: There are too many to count...we spent a lot of time together! We were also both Greek so there were many formals and themed events we enjoyed attending. I don't know if this is still a thing, but Nick presented me with a lavalier of his fraternity letters on my 21st birthday. When I was a senior, my sorority designated Nick as our 'Squirious Man 2008' at our Spring Formal (AGD...mascot is the squirrel)
I don't have enough time to describe how much BGR means to me, the program, the development, and all of the people and friendships. Nick and I didn't start dating until after he was past his BGR leadership, and then mine really ramped up later in 2006 after I joined SOC. He always supported me though with the late hours, busy weekends, and costume developments. I am a fourth generation Purdue grad who knew I wanted to go to Purdue since middle school, so I was probably always destined to be part of BGR. But, if that first week as a freshman hadn't gone so well, maybe not! I'm happy to give Nick the credit for my intro into BGR which had a huge impact on my Purdue Career! Not a relationship memory but one thing I'm proud of was co-writing the very first original Freezone presentation/play with my best buddy, Michelle (Keesling) Allen. It was presented in August 2007 when my brother, Nathan Valle, was a freshman in the audience at Elliott Hall, who would also go on to be a TL and TS.
Ally Roy (‘21) and Rishi Prasadha (‘21)
Our first interaction was in the basement of the Union for a TL social (2018)! Our groups were buddies, and we started to get to know each other as we had recently been assigned to our groups. After BGR week as TLs, Rishi asked me to be his girlfriend and baked me banana bread! We have now been together for over 6 years!! We're not engaged at the moment but are planning to get engaged in the near future (eee)!! Our favorite BGR memory together is playing the goggle game (you make goggles over your eyes and if someone looks at you while you're doing it, they have to do push-ups) as TLs. Rishi was always making me do so many push-ups! But this caused us to grow closer and share so many laughs! I think BGR means everything to us. Through it, we felt confident in being vulnerable together, which allowed our relationship to blossom early. We continue to share open and honest moments together and enjoy playing silly games that keep our days fun. Without BGR, life wouldn't be nearly as fulfilling as it is today. Thank you for bringing us together <3
Trevor Dum (‘13) and Annalise Dum (‘14)
We first met each other when my (a Super) TL group met for the very first time (2011). Annalise was one of my TLs, and it was a rather normal interaction of meeting someone for the first time. We interacted in BGR events throughout the year. Following the end of BGR week in 2011, we had some sort of connection that happened organically, I guess. We hung out outside of BGR for the first time with our buddy group of TLs to celebrate BGR being over and we hit it off from that point forward. We’ve been together, officially, since December 2011. We got engaged in November 2015 and have been happily married since September 2016. We both look back fondly on our time at Purdue and in BGR. We made lasting friendships and memories that constantly find their way back to our discussions. We had our butterfly moments when we first started talking and seeing each other in a new light, and got to start as BGR friends, turned to best friends, and spouse, for life. I’m not sure any one memory can encapsulate BGR, but when I think of my time in BGR, it really comes down to the people we met along the way, and how many life lessons there were that we didn’t even realize we were learning in the moment. Some of our best friends, stories, and memories come from Purdue/BGR - we wish we could be back there and relive the good ol’ days!!
Emily Hanzek Castillo (‘16) and Andrés Castillo (‘16)
Andrés and I officially met as TLs during Meet the Team on the first day of BGR (2013). One of Andrés’s new students was transferring into my group after a busy week of BGRi. And honestly, all I really remember of the interaction is that Andrés was slightly late and that he barely said “hello” to me. I like to think that I truly “met” Andrés as we became “buddies” for our year on SOC (2015). It was this foundation that allowed our transition into “something more” to feel seamless after we graduated. In July of 2019, a group of friends and I vacationed in Panamá to visit Andrés and experience his home country. It was on this trip that I admitted my long-held feelings for Andrés and ever since, we’ve been attached at the hip. We got married in March of 2023 in an intimate ceremony at PMU and have settled into life in West Lafayette (again) as Andrés finishes his PhD.
The impact of BGR and Orientation Programs on our lives is something we reflect on often. Getting to work alongside Andrés in a non-academic setting allowed me to get to know him in a different light than I could have as classmates or “fast friends.” Right away, I learned how passionate and affectionate he is about his family, friends, and any place where he leaves his mark. Having the opportunity to be involved in BGR leadership has allowed us to create a relationship where we push each other to be better, whether it be our career goals or personal endeavors, but also create an environment where it’s okay and normal to “fail.” Lastly, it wouldn’t be fair to tell our BGR love story without mentioning Kasi Jones. Personally, I’ll never forget the moment at our final BGR banquet when Kasi casually asked me, “So you and Andrés, are y’all dating yet?” It wasn’t until a few years later when that would become true, but Kasi was instrumental in the personal development of me and Andrés separately and her influence has made us better people for ourselves and each other.
Hailee Young (‘24) and Jacob Kolk (‘24)
We were new students the COVID year of BGR (2020). We had buddy TLs who were not really buddies but always did everything together. We never formally introduced ourselves to each other, but he knew me as ‘one of the girls always dancing and talking to people.’ We didn’t start formally dating until April 2021 after reconnecting in March 2021 via a dating app. We matched on a dating app and immediately started hanging out for over a month before he asked me out while we were at a bonfire with some of my friends. When we were in the talking phase of our relationship, I asked if he did BGR and he told me yes and who his TL was. I was like ‘oh my ohh that was my TLs buddy!’ He proceeds to tell me ‘Yea you were the girl who was always dancing with the two other girls; the really tall one and the girl with black hair’ which was correct those were my two friends in my group. As we looked through old BGR stuff he popped up in a few of the videos I had taken of us dancing as a big group and he could be seen not dancing and I was right in front dancing. We have been together for almost four years in April.
Some of our favorite memories from being at Purdue were just being around each other. We enjoyed each other's company and when we started talking, we talked for hours outside of Owen where I lived. We don’t talk about how we met much anymore to each other, but I always like telling our friends and family how we met because not only was it during COVID, but we didn’t realize it again until we officially started talking.
The first picture is us freshman year after we started talking. The next photos are at graduation time in May and a few weeks ago at Christmas with our cat Sabine! The last two are first day of Junior year 2022 and our first football game sophomore year 2021!
Devon Ramirez (‘21) and Noah Spangler (‘21)
Noah and I met when we were put in the same group for BGR as new freshmen in 2017. We first saw each other on the Cary Quad Courtyard and have been inseparable since! We began officially dating in 2018 and have been together for 7 years and got engaged in June 2024 and will be married in 2025. Our favorite memory from BGR as incoming freshmen was getting milkshakes as a group at Pappy’s and going to the Meijer Mania event. Our favorite BGR memory as TLs (2018) was being in separate hall teams and competing for the most spirited team (he was McHarrison I was OOC).
BGR to us showed us that putting yourself out there and trying something new can put you on a path you never saw coming. Neither of us thought a freshman orientation group could lead us to our lives now and give us something to bond over the next year as we grew in our participation. We are always willing to put ourselves out there and try new things because we met at the start of an adventure at Purdue and our whole lives have been an adventure since.
Eric Newman (‘18) and Erika Newman (‘17)
Q: What was your first interaction with each other?
Erika: Our first interaction was during the supervisor retreat in November 2015. Eric remembered my name after meeting 100 new friends and went out of his way to make me feel welcome!
Eric: I remember being introduced to Erika by our mutual friend at the Supervisor Meet and Greet Mixer shortly after finding out we had been selected as Supervisors.
Q: How did you officially get together?
Erika: After being friends for almost a year and hanging out in groups, I decided to take a leap and ask out my crush on a dinner date. He said yes and we’ve been going steady ever since.
Eric: Shortly after our duties as supervisors were over, I received a text from Erika asking me if I wanted to get dinner sometime. A few weeks later I was asking her to go steady.
We have been together 8 years and are now married; we got married on our 5-year dating anniversary.
Q: What are your favorite BGR or Purdue memories together?
Erika: Getting engaged in Martell Forest—Eric planned a picnic there along one of our favorite trails. Getting our friends together and doing one last group fountain run before graduation. Raising a puppy together who got socialized by spending time out on walks on campus. Breakfast Club as Han Solo and Chewbacca.
Eric: I always enjoyed working with Erika to help our team leaders develop their leadership skills. She always was great at showing my group a different perspective. I really enjoyed walking our dogs through the gorgeous campus in the evenings. And all of the things she said of course.
Q: What does BGR and Orientation Programs mean to you and your relationship?
Erika: We owe the program our whole life together—I wouldn’t have met Eric otherwise. It gave me the self-discovery to make myself open to and strong enough to build the life we have together. It also gave us some of our closest friends to this day—most of our wedding party was actually fellow supers!
Eric: It meant a great way to set up a solid foundation of our relationship through our friendship. It allowed us both to learn how to better communicate in life and in our relationship. BGR created a great atmosphere for creating group connections that helped lead me to my marriage and the life of my dreams.
Jeremy Soldan (‘26) and Sydnie Scozzaro (‘26)
Sydnie and I first met during our Team Leader Retreat in 2023, but I did not ask her out until after Boiler Gold Rush 2024. We’ve been together for 5 months as of January 2025. Our favorite memory together is when we won the hall team showdown as CHOO at BGR 2023. Orientation Programs and BGR have allowed both of us to grow as individuals so that we may grow together.
Stories Compiled by Orientation Staff
