The Harrisons: Deriving Love
ALLANTE & RICKELL HARRISON–CLASS OF 2014
We met as Allanté Harrison and Rickell Hardaway in our last semester as high school seniors during the 2011 CDEP Energy Career Day, since we were being awarded full scholarships to FVSU. We sat by each other during the Scholarship Luncheon and got a chance to connect before exchanging numbers at the end. We both accepted the scholarship and started summer school with our CDEP Scholarship cohort. We continued hanging out and getting to know each other as friends, but during the fall semester, our romance started to blossom. We went our first date and by the top of spring semester, we were officially a couple!
Through our time at FVSU, we built a lasting bond with not only our CDEP cohort turned family, but with each other. We studied together, ate together, played games and laughed together and attended events on campus together. While we were in some of the same organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, and the National Association of Black Geoscientists (NABG), we each had our own interests and made sure to support each other in those endeavors. We, of course, walked to class together, which was mostly easy because we were both Mathematics majors, but Allanté would also come across the Yard from Wildcat Commons (WC) 2 to WC1 to walk me to my Baptist Student Union (BSU) concerts in Pettigrew before coming back with our friends. I thought that was so sweet! He encouraged me when I was auditioning for the Joseph Adkins Players and helped me run lines on the benches out on the Quad when I got the role of Lady in Green in the production of "For Colored Girls..." on campus. I came to his Student Government events and we even got to serve as Mr. and Ms. CDEP together for homecoming! We were there for each other through the loss of loved ones and were intentional in uplifting and comforting each other. Those moments of laughter, connection, and support in our early dating years at FVSU helped build the foundation of our relationship and further solidified us after graduating from FVSU and moving towards earning our second degrees at the University of Arkansas. Allanté graduated from there one year before I did, but we were purposeful about seeing each other throughout summer internships as well as my last year of school.
After finishing our undergraduate degrees and starting our first jobs, we were living in different states. Yet, we remained committed to each other and had fun planning frequent trips to visit our respective cities or a midpoint city and explore it together. Traveling, trying new experiences, and cooking together, were some of the things that aided us in enduring the distance and further strengthened our deep bond and love. We made time for our relationship and continued to grow and mature together while having fun. We kept a strong relationship with our FV family, who also supported our relationship. After our families, they were the next to know when Allanté proposed!
Wisdom for Today’s Students on Love, Relationships & Balancing School Life
Our advice for current students: focus on your school work, but don't be afraid to open yourself to love in all its forms! We found each other and our tribe and continued to choose each other throughout our matriculation. Pursue your interests and share that with your partner! They'll make you both more well rounded and help you not only get to know and understand each other, but appreciate each other as well. Create memories as a couple, with family and friends, but also by yourselves, so you can reflect on your journey and savor those times. AND don't forget to have fun and laugh together because that makes life all the more enjoyable! You got this!
