Augie Sweethearts: Elizabeth Rizzi and Tyler Buss, Class of 2015

Submitted by Elizabeth Rizzi of Aurora, Ill.

Tyler and I met on the Mississippi River cruise on that very first weekend at Augie. He says he fell for me right away, but I was too busy being anxious about absolutely everything to notice. We quickly became very good friends. The two of us and our small group of friends did everything together. We ate every meal together; I lived in Westerlin and everyone else lived in lower campus, so I would walk to the CC every night to have dinner with them. Tyler would walk me home on the slough path or those dreaded Olin stairs each night to make sure I was safe. Once I realized that I shared the same feelings for him as he did for me, I had to tell him. On Feb. 5, 2012, I finally told him how I felt and we have been together ever since. He was my bell tower kiss both freshman and senior year, my date to countless formals and my favorite person with whom to roam the campus or go to La Ranch for dinner. 

After graduation, Tyler moved to Normal with me where I attended grad school for speech pathology. It was so nice to have a piece of my Augie home with me there. Six years after we got together, Tyler proposed in Galena on our anniversary! We recently bought a home and are getting married this October. We traveled back to Augustana to take our engagement pictures. Words cannot describe how happy we were to be back at the place where we fell in love. Our first home, a place where we found so much more than just a college degree.