"That was his little ploy," Gregerson laughs. "He took me to the mountains and we had cheesecake by candlelight."

But Gregerson was not the first to learn of Hunter's proposal. Hunter called her parents earlier that evening to officially ask their permission.

"I like the traditional way of doing things," she says.

The two will be married June 27, in a small ceremony at a Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints temple in San Diego. The newlyweds will live in Utah and plan to start a family.

"We want to have kids--maybe sooner rather then later," Gregerson says.

Going the Distance

When Miriam T. Burgos '98 and Tino G. Ramos '96 marry, the ceremony will mark the culmination of years of long-distance travel and phone calls.

The two met during Burgos' Orientation Week. Ramos, a junior, was in town early to practice with a Latino dance group. The two met when Burgos joined the group.

A close friendship developed over the fall term. When Valentine's Day rolled around that winter, romance was in the air.

"He called me the day before Valentine's Day to ask me to dinner at Legal Seafood," Burgos says. "I was very surprised. I sensed that there was something there, but I didn't think it would really happen."

The date went well, and many more followed.

They were together until Ramos' graduation, but Burgos says it took only a month to convince the pair that they would spend the rest of their lives together.

"It was really the fact that we felt that we had so much in common, not only in terms of our interests, but in terms of our views of the future," Burgos says.

For the past two years, the couple has carried on a long-distance relationship while Ramos attends Cornell Medical School. But according to Burgos, the distance has only increased the strength of the relationship.

"It makes the time we spend together very, very special," she says. "This year we've gotten to see each other, on average, every three weeks. The hard part was saying goodbye at the end of every weekend."

Ramos proposed last April, while the two were in New York together. During a trip to Central Park, Ramos suddenly dropped to one knee.

"It was raining and very lonely. We had a huge umbrella, and we were both standing under it," Burgos lovingly reminisces.

The pair plan a large wedding once Ramos graduates from medical school. Next year, they will be forced to continue a long-distance relationship, as Burgos will remain in the Boston area. She is convinced that their relationship can survive the test.

"I'm absolutely positive that I love him. I don't know how to explain it. I can start with my usual butterfly in the stomach analogy, but you don't understand it until you feel it," Burgos says.