For recently engaged seniors Hannah Cary and Eli Aghassi, the Mount Vernon Campus is a place for lovers.

And it all started in the mailroom.

The pair first met about three weeks into their freshman year – when they discovered they had neighboring mailboxes – and have been dating ever since. Though they no longer live on the satelitte campus, neither downplays the role the Vern and GW have had in their relationship.

“All of our favorite stories take place at restaurants that take GWorld,” Cary said.

After the initial meeting at the mail facility, their romance didn’t take long to blossom. Just a day later, they accompanied mutual friends to an anti-war protest. After being separated from their group, they found themselves holding hands so they would not lose each other in the crowd – and one thing led to another.

“On the hill below Somers, we had our first kiss,” Aghassi said with a smile.

Last month they found themselves back at the same spot. Only this time, he knelt down on one knee.

“We’re kind of the poster children for Mount Vernon,” Cary said of their attachment to the campus. They did choose a Mexican beach instead of the Vern as their wedding spot, however.

The couple said they do not know many other serious GW couples; both feel GW is a “really weird” place to date seriously, and that many of their peers did not seem to understand the concept of a serious relationship. But neither of them had been looking to date seriously either, especially so early in college.

“The idea that I’ve been engaged before I have a diploma is kind of weird,” Cary admitted. In fact, she said she once considered breaking up, when Aghassi left to study abroad for a semester, just to experience the freedom of single life. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it, she said, and that’s when she realized it was serious.

Traveling together in Europe for 10 days furthered their bond and made them realize that they could make it.

“Traveling as a couple tells you a lot about what you can and can’t do together . it teaches you a lot about the person you’re with,” she said.

They also keep the romance alive during the busy semester, which they accomplish by relying on the little things, like walking around campus late at night or meeting each other after class.

“He walks me all the way across campus to 1776 G Street,” Cary said. “It’s just little things like that.”