Many students are fortunate enough to find their other half at Texas State University. The University Star reached out to couples to share their love stories of how they met on campus.
Ralph and Kristin Foster
Ralph and Kristen Foster first met in 1988 at the shuttle stop on Windmill Drive. Enamored by her beauty, sometimes he would go to the shuttle stop just to see her. One night, his roommates invited some girls to their apartment. Ralph was happy to see that Kristin was one of them. From there, they hit it off.
Ralph and Kristin knew they had a connection but remained friends throughout their time at then Southwest Texas State University. After they graduated they both found themselves in San Antonio for work. Kristin went through the phone book and reached back out to Ralph. Eight months later they were married.
“I remembered that he had been [in San Antonio] and it was probably just fate having me reach out because, it wasn’t like today, where you follow people,” Kristin said. “We hadn’t been in touch in a while and thank goodness his number was listed… Right away we knew we were going to be back together.”
The Fosters got married in San Marcos at the Crystal River Inn in 1994. Kristin graduated in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and Ralph graduated in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. They have two kids and their daughter recently graduated in Dec. 2023. They will celebrate 30 years of marriage this year.
“I like, too, that even after 30 years we still say I love you multiple times a day and actually mean it… and we still have a lot of fun together and do a lot of fun things,” Kristin said.
First Impressions?
“I thought Kristin was beautiful and I’d seen her at a bus stop a few times,” Ralph said. “Actually, a couple of times I went out there and I didn’t have class but at least got a chance to say good morning to her, and get to see her.”
“I thought he was super handsome,” Kristin said. “Just my type and then as soon as we met and started hanging out we were just very similar. We like to do the same things at had this great friend group. I mean, we had so much fun.”
What do you love most about one another?
“I just love Ralph’s loyalty and his devotion to our family,” Kristin said. “And just how smart is… he maintains knowledge and information and I feel like he’s a lot smarter than I am. But if anything else just his complete love and loyalty for our family and his devotion.”
“The kids are super lucky to have Kristin,” Ralph said. “She’s awesome… In terms of work and stuff like that I’ve had some rough patches along the way, but the one thing I’ve always had is Kristen. She’s like my greatest advocate.”
Scott and Amber Muhoberac
Amber Muhoberac was supposed to graduate in spring 2015 but had to take summer classes after having an emergency gallbladder removal surgery. On the first day of her international marketing class, Scott Muhoberac sat next to her. They were required to share their LinkedIn profiles and also briefly studied for a quiz together.
After two weeks Amber dropped the class, graduated and moved to Houston. Four years later, Scott reached out to Amber on LinkedIn looking for a job in the area.
“It just popped up on LinkedIn that she was in staffing and I needed a position,” Scott said. “The position didn’t work out but I got something much greater.”
Scott and Amber began dating after reconnecting on LinkedIn. They share a common and unique connection with the campus and come to San Marcos every year to visit and see the spot where they first met. On one of their yearly trips to San Marcos, Scott surprised Amber with a proposal outside of Lampasas Hall in 2022, which was the building that held their international marketing class in 2015.
“We wouldn’t be together if it wasn’t for Texas State,” Amber said. “Although we didn’t spend our college years together, we would not be together if we hadn’t met on campus… We didn’t really spend those years together, they’re special to both of us individually, and we wanted it to be special together so proposing [at Texas State] did that for us.”
Amber graduated in 2015 and Scott in 2017 both with bachelor’s degrees in mass communication. They got married in 2022 and visit San Marcos each year since it holds a special place in their hearts.
Jeremy and Liza Leonhardt
A former Managing Editor for The University Star, Liza Leonhardt was invited by a friend on staff to go to a football game on Oct. 19, 2013. Jeremy Leonhardt, her friend’s roommate, was in charge of picking everyone up to go to the game.
“He drove up in a green truck,” Liza said. “I didn’t know him at the time, he was a mutual friend’s roommate… We went to the game together, and I was definitely flirting with him most of the time. At the end of the night, I went back to my apartment, and I was like, ‘I hope I hear from him again.’ I really liked spending time with him.”
Their mutual friend gave him Liza’s number and he reached out to her a couple of days later. They began hanging out with each other nonstop and found they had several things in common.
“She was easy to talk to and it was very easy to carry on conversations,” Jeremy said. “We had some similarities. It’s kind of interesting… we had birthdays that were right next to each other, and we really didn’t live that far from each other growing up we just didn’t know it.”
Liza graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s in mass communication and Jeremy in 2015 with a bachelor’s in accounting. They got married in 2017 and have two kids. They said are thankful to The University Star and Texas State for bringing them together.
Robert Dorsey and Hayden Dooley
Robert Dorsey and Hayden Dooley never knew each other while attending Texas State. Instead, they met after they both had graduated at an alumni choir performance on July 25, 2014, at the then new Performing Arts Center. Dorsey was in the audience as Dooley performed with the alumni choir. For about an hour and 30 minutes of the performance they kept locking eyes with one another.
“I am just in there doing my thing, singing with my friends and my colleagues and I see this handsome face in the audience,” Dooley said. “I went ‘Oh, okay, that was fun.’ I continued singing… and then I just keep noticing that we keep looking at each other and I’m like, ‘Well, that seems intentional.’”
Dorsey originally attended the performance to see a good friend who was the director of the alumni choir. After the performance, his good friend introduced him to Dooley. They went out to the square that night and were inseparable from one another.
Dorsey and Dooley didn’t officially start dating until COVID-19. Throughout COVID-19, they had dates with one another at parks and at each other’s apartments. They believe this time together helped them connect on a deeper level.
“I credit [COVID-19] to what made us so incredible together,” Dorsey said. “We didn’t have outside influences [like] our friends that were constantly asking questions and judging or anything like that. We got just pure time with one another to really get to know each other on a deeper level than most people I think get the opportunity to do.”
Dooley graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s of arts and music and a bachelor’s in math education. Dorsey graduated in 2014 with a master’s in business and management. They live in San Marcos and moved in together in June 2023.
Art and Jeanene Campsey
Jeanene Campsey met Art Campsey in fall 1977 at her friend’s brother’s apartment who was roommates with Art. They enjoyed each other’s company and continued to hang out in a group until Art asked Jeanene out on Valentine’s Day in 1978.
“It just seemed an appropriate time,” Art said “A good day to go out. My parents were married on Valentine’s Day many years ago… You could kill two birds with one stone.”
At the time, Jeanene was in a five year relationship with a boy at Texas A&M. She ended up breaking up with him to be with Art. One year later on Valentine’s Day, Art asked Jeanene to marry him. They got married that June after Art graduated.
For Jeanene and Art, San Marcos holds a special place in their hearts. They try and visit every year.
“We’ve made it a point to just about every year to [come to San Marcos],” Jeanene said. “We went canoeing two years ago. We got brave and strapped [the canoe to] the top of our car and then went down there and we put in down past the city park and we went all the way down is where the Falls is.”
Art and Jeanene are celebrating 45 years of marriage this June. Art graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s in accounting. Jeanene dropped out after her sophomore year to marry Art but got her degree in nursing from San Antonio College when her sons were older. Both of their sons graduated from Texas State in 2004.
Ray Medina-Padilla and Jessica Cruz
As a transfer student, Jessica Cruz wasn’t familiar with the shuttle routes which led her to take the Mill Street route where she briefly met Ray Medina-Padilla in 2016. The shuttle ended up breaking down on train tracks and they were transferred to another shuttle. A year later they matched on Tinder.
“His bio stated to swipe right for a cheesy pickup line or for tacos,” Cruz said in a written interview with The University Star. “So I swiped right in the hopes of tacos but he said, ‘I’m no photographer but I can picture us together.’ We’ve been together ever since.”
Medina-Padilla graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in information technology and Cruz graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in education. They are engaged to be married this March.
