For many, university is one of the most significant times in a person’s life. It’s a time when you first experience living on your own; you quickly learn why you shouldn’t mix beer with hard liquor; and you meet a ton of new friends. And for many Brock alumni, university was also the time when they met the love of their life. 

Take, for example, Bradley Walchuk (BA ’07; MA ’08) and Laura Harris (BA ’07; MA ’08). Walchuk and Harris met at Brock in an undergraduate history class in second year. As political science majors, they had several classes together and quickly became friends. In their master’s year in 2007-08, they shared the same tight-knit group of friends, and became closer friends as a result.

“Our master’s group was particularly close,” said Walchuk. “And Laura and I attended conferences together in Buffalo and Albany, and drove together to New York City for an end-of-the-semester trip with about 15 people from the program.”

It wasn’t until January 2009, after striking up a conversation at a party hosted by a mutual friend of theirs, Kevin O’Neil (MA ’10), that Walchuk and Harris started dating.

Having known each other for many years at Brock, Walchuk and Harris already knew quite a bit about each other. As they started spending more time with each other, their love for each other grew stronger. A couple of months later, they got engaged while in Ottawa for a political science conference. 

“After experiencing life with Laura, I couldn’t go back to life without her, so I asked her to be my wife”, said Walchuk. “We had only been dating for a few months, but we knew that we were meant to be. We experienced so much together: snow tubing, dancing, my first encounter with a snake – a nine-foot python, a vacation to Florida, trying new types of food – Moroccan, Thai and Greek, and many dog walks.  All of those things were made so much better because we experienced them together.”

Walchuk and Harris were married Oct. 16, 2010 at the Halton Regional Museum in Milton, Ont. Their bridal party and attendees included mutual friends from Brock, including Allison Timberg (BA ’08), Christine Jennings (BA ’09), Samir Husika (BA ’07; MA ’10), Joseph Van Troost (BA ’04; MA ’06), Rudi Antohe (MA ’08), Christopher Janzen (BA ’07; MA ’08), and Jason Sykes (BA ’06; MA ’08). 

Many faculty members from Brock’s Political Science department also attended the wedding, including Daniel Samson, Livianna Tossutti, Larry Savage (BA ’00; MA ’01), Ingrid Makus and Leah Bradshaw.

“The wedding was beautiful. It was so nice to see the strong and lasting sense of friendship and community that Brad and Laura experienced as graduate students at Brock,” said Bradshaw.

Walchuk and Harris are completing their PhDs in political science at York University and are working as instructors in Brock’s Political Science department. Walchuk teaches Canadian politics and Harris teaches research methods.

Do you have a Brock alumni sweetheart story to share? Post a picture of you and your sweetheart to the Brock People – Brock University Alumni Facebook fan page or share a TwitPic on Twitter with the hashtag #BrockTweethearts. Share your story in the caption.