Sometime between sipping wine flights and making espresso martinis, Jessica Berger fell in love.
Berger, now 49, was a senior at UF in Spring 1998 when she took a “leisure” class on bartending offered through the Reitz Union. Her now-husband, 52-year-old Jason Berger, had originally wanted to take a wine tasting class, but when spots filled up, fate resorted to educating him on mixology instead.
When Jason Berger walked into class late on the first day, Jessica Berger noticed him immediately.
“The first night was…focusing on beer, and I'm just not a beer drinker,” she said. “And so he came up to me and said, ‘This is bartending class. Why aren't you drinking anything?’”
He asked her on a date after their second class meeting, she said, and now, the couple lives in Palm City, Florida, with two daughters who are current UF students.
Gainesville’s student population has bred opportunities for young love and even led to lifelong fairytales. Whether it be two college students flirting over coffee or a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, the romantic memories made in Gainesville can last a lifetime.
Now, 27 years later, Jessica Berger said she and her husband’s love remains strong, all because she decided to switch up her routine and take the leisure course.
Gainesville’s a very special town, she said. The Bergers regularly revisit the Swamp each fall, using their football season tickets as an excuse for date night.
In 2023, 2,160 couples tied the knot in Gainesville, according to the Wedding Report Index. Yet the question of how to find a forever love remains complicated.
Between hookup culture being perpetuated from dating apps, social anxiety and an increase in “situationships,” younger generations are experiencing a much more pragmatic outlook on love, according to a 2022 BBC article.
Other research shows 66% of members in Gen Z, an age group born between 1997 and 2012, accept the impermanence of relationships, leaving many hopeful romantics hopeless.
Lolita Gerstenberger, who spent her undergraduate years in Gainesville, was fed up with the dating world. So much so, the now 46-year-old placed a Yahoo personal ad to find a romantic partner.
“I placed an ad right around New Year's, and he replied New Year's Eve, and we hit it off,” she said. “We talked, emailed back and forth for 12 days. We went on our first date January 12.”
It wasn’t love at first sight, she said, but the second date was like fireworks. When they first started dating, a favorite date night spot was the Hippodrome Theatre in downtown Gainesville.
A month after their first date, the couple got engaged.
“I was in my room getting ready to go out, and I turned around and he was on one knee,” she said.
After saying yes, Gerstenberger was treated to dinner at Northwest Grille, a Gainesville seafood staple, she said. She didn’t place the ad with the intention of immediately getting engaged, but the two talked about plans for the future on their second date and “just knew” they were meant to be.
“I think we just were compatible to such a degree, and all of the requisite sparks and romance were there,” she said.
Running in similar crowds with overlapping interests is what drew 51-year-old Rob Meis to his wife. The couple were both involved in Greek life and met while working on the annual Gator Growl together.
Growing up in Gainesville taught Meis a lot about himself and his relationships with others, he said. In a city with over 140,000 people, the expression that there’s “plenty of fish in the sea” can feel overwhelming.
For Meis, the secret to a successful relationship is finding someone to be genuine with. Despite growing older and becoming parents, his relationship with his wife hasn’t really changed since their days in Gainesville, he said.
Meis advised younger people to get off of social media if they’re feeling lost in finding love.
“I think it [love] happens when you least expect it,” he said. “Just go out, be yourself, meet as many people as you can.”
Lori Haydu, a 60-year-old who lived in Gainesville from 1982 to 1986 while studying at UF, agreed love can sometimes be sitting right underneath your nose.
In the fall of her sophomore year, she said she met the love of her life, Robert Haydu, when hanging out with some friends in Jennings Hall.
“The funny thing we always remember is he came back with me to my dorm to get my purse before we went to the movies, and I introduced him to my roommate as Tom,” she said. “And he said, ‘My name is Rob,’ … That was the running joke for a long time.”
They started as best friends, but he had romantic feelings, Lori Haydu said. When looking into job opportunities after graduation, he was persistent in asking her out, she said. The couple has been together since.
While at Gainesville High School, 55-year-old Shannon Haas fell in love with her teenage sweetheart. She said she met Van Haas when she was only 16, and their first date ended on a visit to the Krispy Kreme on Northwest 13th Street, a well-loved haunt for UF students and Gainesville residents.
“He just had these big blue eyes, and I just looked into those eyes,” she said. “That was it [love].”
The two dated on and off for eight years before he popped the question, Haas said. During the Gators’ first home football game in September 1992, Van surprised her with tickets. Despite being quite jetlagged and overheating in the Florida sun, she was happy to go to the game with her love, Haas said.
While watching the game, Van kept mentioning how many planes were in the sky over the stadium, but Haas said she couldn’t see because of the visor she was wearing.
“I got the impression he really wanted me to look up in the sky,” she said. “As I looked up, there was a plane going by that said, ‘Shannon, will you marry me? Love Van.’”
The couple got married on the Thomas Center grounds, where they still return for date night picnics, she said. They’ve been together now for 40 years.
Love takes compromise, respect and laughter, Haas said, and it’s always worth it at the end of the day.
Contact Morgan Vanderlaan at mvanderlaan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @morgvande.
Morgan Vanderlaan is a second year Political Science major and the Fall 2024 Politics Enterprise Reporter. When she's not on the clock she can be found writing, reciting, and watching theatre!
