Veronica (Smith) `96 and Jeff Styer `94

 Veronica (Smith) `96 and Jeff Styer `94

It was love at first insult is how Veronica likes to frame the story. It was the Fall of 1993 and I was entering my Senior Year and Veronica was entering her Sophomore Year and we were both RAs but did not know each other at the start of RA training. One day during RA training we were in the old caf (Founders Hall) eating lunch with our fellow RAs  I was telling stories of all the recording artists I had meet working the Alive Festival that summer. I was a driver and had the privilege of driving the artists to and from the Airport, Hotels and Clays Park. I turned to Veronica and asked her what kind of music she listened to. Veronica replied Southern Gospel.”  Without missing a beat I said That's not real music, and went back to telling stories. Veronica thought I was a jerk. During RA training Veronica and I were randomly paired together as prayer partners for the year. Despite my being a jerk Veronica and I meet faithfully each week to pray for each other and began to develop a strong friendship. My goal was to be unattached when I left Malone but just before graduation Veronica and I officially started dating (many friends said we were in denial and had started dating much earlier). I left at the end of that summer to take a Resident Director job at Bridgewater College and Veronica continued her studies at Malone. Our friendship continued to grow through lots and lots of letter writing that year, Cell phones were fairly new and too expensive. We married in May 1998 and after almost 24 years of marriage, Veronica remains my best friend.