OPENINGS
OPENINGS
MRS. HAWKINS
How did you first meet your significant other?
On the beach.
What was your first impression
of him?
Uh, he was really hot. (laughs)
“GROW OLD WITH ME,
THE BEST IS YET TO BE”
-ROBERT BROWNING
BY JENNA YEH AND YIUMIN GAN
Ever wondered how your teachers proposed to their fellow spouses? Read the following interviews and
discover the love stories that belong to each teacher. Maybe besides learning about educational things
from them, we can also learn a thing or two about romance…
MR. BATTERSBY
10
MRS. HAWKINS
MR. PANKRATZ
Where did you guys go on your
first date?
Where did we go? We tried to
go to a restaurant but it was a
public holiday so everything
was closed. We were with a
group of people and so we ended up going back to the beach.
How did you know he was the
one?
Oh I just know. There was no
doubt.
How did he propose? (Any after
thoughts?)
This one’s tough. I met him
when I was sixteen and we
were together for 10 years and
got married when I was 26. I
think it was kind of a mutual
agreement that it was just time
to move on to the next stage. I
have no doubts. No regrets. At
all.
MR. PANKRATZ
How did you first meet your significant other?
We met in a coffee shop in the
University of Ottawa. She was a
foreign student from England
and was getting her masters
there.
What was your first impression
of her?
I thought she was really cute
and friendly.
Where did you guys go on your
first date?
We went to this really kind of
like high end-ish Mexican restaurant. A fancy, quiet, dark,
spooky kind of restaurant.
How did you know she was the
one?
Oh I don’t know. I guess you
sort of just know, don’t you?
You either do know or you
don’t. Or you never know but
you just take a chance.
How did you propose? (Any after thoughts?)
We went out for dinner on Valentine’s Day 1997 and she was
mad at me because I didn’t
make big plans for that day. And
so I just said it and she cried but
didn’t actually answer. It turned
out she was quite cross at me
for not making any big plans.
But that’s the biggest thing you
can possibly do, right?
MR. BATTERSBY
How did you first meet your significant other?
We joined our last school on the
same day, same time. September 2004.
What was your first impression
of her?
Very Glaswegian.
Where did you guys go on your
first date?
Ikea. To get her straws for the
Art Department.
How did you know she was the
one?
Because she puts up with my
stubbornness, I suppose. And
dogs. She likes my dogs. Well
she didn’t mind my dogs sleeping in the bedroom.
How did you propose? (Any after
thoughts?)
We were camping in the west
coast of Scotland and I proposed as the sun set on a onetrack road overlooking a bay
called Applecross. I didn’t have
a ring then. She was a jeweller
so I knew she wouldn’t like the
ring I bought her. I basically
had to drive 150 miles around
in Scotland around Skye so she
can choose her own ring. And
then she wasn’t satisfied with
that one so she designed her
own one and we had it made.
She had 2 engagement rings.
11