Feb. 14—When they first met freshman year at Minnesota State University, these two lovebirds were immediately drawn to each other.

But then they thought, 'The first person I meet can't be the one!'

That's how Lissette Garza describes her meeting of Patrick Norris, with whom she just celebrated four years of dating on Jan. 25. The couple is one of 22 to be profiled on MSU's social media channels as part of a Valentine's Day campaign dubbed "#mavmatches."

The brainchild of Lindsey Beyer, director of web marketing for MSU, mavmatches is a spin-off of an Alumni Office undertaking from about five years ago. It was then called "mavmarriages," and when social media guru Beyer took the program over, she decided to also include current student couples and thus opted to rebrand the effort as mavmatches.

"College is a time when young people have a newfound freedom to explore, grow and discover who they are," Beyer said. "It provides an opportunity to have a fresh start and meet new people who share similar values through programs of study, extracurriculars, activities on campus or mutual friends. Many of those relationships result in lifelong bonds."

A dynamic duo

That is definitely true of dynamic duo Garza and Norris.

"It was during first semester, freshman year, and I thought, I love everything about him," gushed Garza in recalling how they met. "I thought, I'm good. I don't need to meet anyone else. He was like, it's freshman year and I'm not going to settle down or get in a relationship right away.

"But then, come sophomore year, he was like, there's really nobody else I want to be with. A big part of what we said freshman year was, you're the first person I met, it can't be. It was this huge thing that there's no way the first person I met on campus was the love of my life."

Yet, it seems, he is just that.

The two started at MSU in fall of 2017 and lived a few doors down from each other. They talked together on move-in weekend, just as they did with scores of others.

They definitely had a strong connection from the start. They started studying together and hanging out constantly, with Garza nursing a long-term crush on her male pal.

Garza admits she was "friend zoned for a while" with Norris, and made do with being buds who studied together and frequented coffee shops. They both joined Greek life and bonded over their shared, fun experiences with a fraternity and sorority, she said.

At the end of the year, as she was packing to leave for summer break, Garza texted Norris and asked him to come to say goodbye to her. When he did, he admitted he had feelings for her, too.

However, he said, let's see how we feel after summer break. To this they each agreed, and off they went to their homes to spend the summer. Once back at school in the fall, things felt off, Garza said.

"Sophomore year we were not as close anymore, and then during Christmas break of sophomore year he had an epiphany and said, 'I still really do like her.' When we came back from Christmas break, he took me out on one date and we immediately started dating," she said.

'I went whoa!'

They aren't alone in their MSU love story, as others with even longer-lasting relationships met there, and went on to date, marry, have kids and make a life together.

Deb and Kevin Newman, co-owners of Hilltop Florist in Mankato, met on Deb's first day at MSU in 1988. Kevin stopped into her McElroy dorm room to see her roommate, and it was an instant love connection with Kevin remembering, "I went whoa!"

They went on to marry and have been wed for 33 years. The MSU love connection is in the genes, it seems, as both of their two kids attended the school and met their spouses there.

Deb and Kevin's daughter Kaitlyn Henderson married Tyler, and son Matthew Newman is married to Madeline. The couple also have two "amazing grandkids," Deb said, Elias and Thea.

"When we got done with school, we never left," Deb said. "We love this community and we love MSU, and our kids ended up going there and their spouses did, too."

"Mankato just became home for us," Kevin said. "We liked the community and schools. It stuck with us and we've been able to live here and raise a family and be a part of the community and to give back as much as we can to the town that's given so much to us."

Susan Clough initially dismissed her now-husband Jason Clough when they met in their Gage Towers residence hall elevator and he asked her to join him and others at a party that night. Susan had plans of her own, so declined, but Jason liked her smile and demeanor right away.

The next night they were both at the Albatross, a then-popular nightlife spot in Mankato for college students that was just off campus. From across the room, they locked eyes.

"We were surprised that we had seen each other the night before," Jason Clough remembers. "There she was again! It was a 'meet cute moment' where I met her on Friday and then again on Saturday. So we started talking more. She had a nice, big smile on her face. We danced a lot."

From there, the two started dating. Susan was impressed Jason was an aviation major, and he was the first person she ever flew in a plane with. He would also fly past their dorm and "tip his wings," Susan said, noting this was before 9/11 when such a thing was doable.

Was he trying to impress her? "Absolutely," Susan said. "Oh for sure," Jason said.

Jason still flies, for fun, and Susan and their daughter Clara, 10, are sometimes in the plane, too.

Funny enough, Susan actually started college thinking she'd marry someone else, a guy from her hometown she'd been seriously dating for a while. But come first semester, they broke up.

Second semester enter Jason, the wing-tipping airplane pilot.

"I'm from a small town in southern Minnesota and he's from the metro," Susan said. "I was born on a farm. Two completely opposite worlds connect, and a love story unfolds."

Jason graduated from MSU in spring of 2003, and Susan in December of the same year. They got married in 2003 as well and will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this summer.

Social media connection

As for Kaitlyn and Blake Giles, their mavmatches love story began early in their MSU experience as well, when they connected on social media and Blake errantly took Kaitlyn to be a cheerleader. Nope, a track star, he later found out after adding her as a Facebook friend.

After weeks of messaging and texting, the two agreed to go out on a date. They now laugh at this, as their first outing was to see a scary movie called "The Devil Inside."

"We thought the other would like it, but neither of us enjoyed it," Kaitlyn said. "We laughed about it afterward because we both sat through a movie that neither of us enjoyed, mostly because we thought the other would want to see it."

Their communication has improved since that first date, and they are now parents to twin girls Skyler and Kennedy, 15 months. And way back when they were just a new couple, Blake recalls seeing big vehicles and imagining being in one, later in life, with Kaitlyn.

Now Kaitlyn drives a minivan and he's in an SUV. "She was always the one I would see myself with in those vehicles," Blake said of his college-age thought process about his now life.

In fact, Blake perhaps sums up mavmatches best when he says: "I'm happy we found each other and that we are continuing our love for each other."