Finding love across the hallway

BY BETHANY KILPATRICK

Multimedia Journalist

Love is in the air at Tarleton State University this February, but for Paige Davis and Adam Stone, love has been in the air since day one in the halls of Traditions South.

Davis is studying mechanical engineering and is from Barlett, Kansas. Stone is studying computer science and is from Granbury, Texas. They are both juniors and have been in a committed relationship since their freshman year.

“I think proximity brought us together,” Davis said. “We lived across the hall from each other in Traditions South, because we were both in the Corps (Texan Corps of Cadets) at the time.”

While love at first sight is mythical to some, it is not to Stone.

“The first time I saw you (Davis),” Stone said. “You were in the hallway, and we didn’t speak to each other at the time, but I saw you, and I was like, ‘Wow, you were stunning, and I had a crush on you at that time.”

Stone quickly caught Davis’ attention as well, but she had a slightly different response.

“The very first time that I looked at him or even interacted with him would have been at convocation,” Davis said. “My very first thought was, ‘Woah, I am going to marry this guy.’ My second thought was, ‘Holy cow, his legs are so hairy.’”

Davis’ observations made for a comical first interaction.

“I just told him he had Sasquatch legs,” Davis said. “I was like, ‘Well, if it is meant to be, that will go over well.’ And it did. Here we are.”

While their relationship began as simply friends, it did not stay that way too long.

“We met that August,” Davis said. “Then in September we just decided we were each others’ best friend, and we should be together, and there wasn’t really any reason we shouldn’t be.”

In the course of their relationship Davis and Stone have seen many sights together.

“After we first started dating,” Davis said. “We went to Florida together with my family. Then that next summer we did a road trip through Wyoming through the Badlands. We have also gone with his family. We went to Cozumel.”

To say this Tarleton couple enjoys the thrill of an adventure is an understatement.

“We are both scuba divers,” Davis said. “So we have done a lot of scuba diving together. We have done firefighting together because we are both firefighters.”

Road tripping, exploring the ocean and firefighting is not all this couple does together.

“We went skydiving together,” Davis said. “I made him ride horses, also. He was not a horse person, but I am on the rodeo team, and he had to learn. He has been a trooper.”

Their latest adventure involves the adoption of their furry friend, Zane. After dog-sitting for Davis’ roommate, they decided they needed an addition to their relationship.

“We were playing with the dog,” Stone said. “It was a chocolate lab. While I was playing with the dog, I was like, ‘Man, I want a dog.’”

Davis shared the same feeling.

“After 10 minutes of hanging out with my roommate’s dog,” Davis said. “I asked Adam if I was crazy for looking for a dog.”

They decided they wanted to adopt a dog from a rescue shelter, and after briefly researching shelters in Texas, Davis found a red merle Australian shepherd, Zane, that they wanted to be theirs.

“He was the best decision we have made,” Davis said. “He is a great addition to our lives, honestly.”

Oliva Ray is a junior at Tarleton and met Davis during her senior year of high school at Texan Orientation. They have been close friends since that point on.

“When they first got together,” Ray said. “I remember Paige being really secure and really sure about it. Even though I didn’t know much about him, I knew I trusted Paige.”

Ray admires the respectable qualities noticeably present between Davis and Stone.

“I would describe them as very compatible,” Ray said. “They know exactly what each other needs at a given time. They just know how to work very well together and adjust to each other’s schedules. I know they are both incredibly busy, but they always seem to find time for each other, which I think is really important.”

Maintaining a loving relationship requires effort and communication according to Stone.

“Communicate,” Stone said. “I think that is the biggest issue for a lot of people who date. Also, I feel like it is important to make sure you are dating, actually going out on dates and not just becoming secondhand roommates to each other, because it is easy to fall into a routine.”

Davis agrees with her partner and encourages working through the hard times together as a couple.

“Not every relationship is perfect,” Davis said. “You have to have this objective that you love each other, and you are together for a reason. Your relationship didn’t just spawn out of nowhere. There is a reason that you are together, so if you are going through something or you are fighting, just remember you are there because you love each other, and you can work through it.”