Students, alumni share how they met their partners at Davis

From picnics at the Davis Farmers Market to weddings in the Arboretum, UC Davis Aggies have carved out time in their busy quarters for a little romance. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, The California Aggie reached out to students and alumni through social media, asking them to volunteer their campus love stories.

The story of Genie Obina, a fourth-year community and regional development major, and Cameron Do, a recent managerial economics graduate, began in Segundo’s Ryerson Hall. After meeting through mutual friends, they eventually became so close that Obina was able to turn to Do when she had to go home to the Bay Area for a family emergency.

“I had to go home but didn’t have any way of getting there,” Obina said. “I messaged our friend group chat asking if anyone could give me a ride to the Bay Area, and [Do] responded saying he would bring me. Him being there as a good support system and someone I could trust really helped me handle the situation and brought us closer, but was also the starting point of another relationship beyond friendship.”

Obina said her family always kept Do in mind because of how kind he was to take her to the hospital, and she noted that their relationship may have not ever had the chance to develop if she did not have to go home for an unfortunate circumstance.

“My family had never met [Do] but he came with me to the hospital where almost my entire family was,” Obina said. “At first they were confused about who he was, but later everyone, even my aunts and uncles, went up to him and told him how nice it was that he brought me to the hospital and how much they appreciated it.”

Obina said that this situation solidified her relationship with Do into something more than friendship. If it hadn’t happened, Obina and Do’s love story might have never lasted the year they have been together.

Tica Bragg, a second-year cognitive science major, was not an experienced soccer player when she joined a co-ed intramural (IM) team for fun during her freshman year. After some time, she decided that the team was not something she wanted to be a part of anymore, but she went to one last practice anyway. That fateful night, she began to fall in love with now-boyfriend of nine months Emile Rappaport, a second-year theater major.

“At the end of practice I asked if anyone wanted to go to the dining commons for late night knowing no one would pass that up,” Bragg said. “I just remember thinking he was unique and I liked that. We talked for a while that night, and the rest is history.”

Rappaport swore that it was a combination of his charm, funny personality and most importantly, the two goals he scored during an IM game that helped him win over Bragg.

“Approaching summer, we had only been dating for three weeks,” Rappaport said. “At that point you don’t really know what the other person’s life is life back home, so there was an elevated amount of trust we needed to put in each other so that we could make it through the entire summer.”

Bragg believes that the distance over summer actually made them fall even more in love and proved that they were on the same page about wanting to make the relationship last. Bragg’s own likes and interests are now becoming a part of Rappaport’s life too, and vice versa. For example, Bragg was inspired enough by Rappaport’s passion for theater to audition for a role in a play, something she said she never would have done if it were not for him.

“I love dancing and just doing adventurous things, and [Rappaport] is someone who always wants to do things I love with me,” Bragg said. “For example, we just planned a trip to go skydiving together and I love that we can go do crazy things together.”

Regardless of whether or not she continues her newfound interest in theater, Bragg supports Rappaport by going to his shows and even surprising him by bringing his parents along with her.

Bragg and Rappaport both appreciate the many different environments that Davis has to offer — especially IM sports — and agree that the campus is a place where amazing relationships can form.

“UC Davis is such a crazy-large campus with so many different types of people,” Bragg said. “It’s amazing when you put yourself out there in a different environment to see the people you’ll meet and the people you’ll eventually fall in love with.”

Falling in love is exactly what Alyssa Jenkins and Dan Elefant did. This happily married couple of 25 years, both of whom graduated UC Davis in 1990, met in 1987 in the Tercero snack shop, where Jenkins happened to be playing arcade games.

“This guy came down and wanted to play the game next to mine,” Jenkins said. “At that moment, my game ended and I wanted to learn how to play his so he started showing me how and that sparked us talking. At the time I didn’t think anything of it.”

A week or so after they first met, Jenkins returned to Davis after spring break to find a note on her dorm whiteboard from Elefant inviting her to a party. Jenkins remembered Elefant as somebody she got along with and enjoyed talking to, but she was not on the prowl to meet someone, which was one of the reasons she attributes to their relationship working out.

“[Elefant] didn’t meet me when I had makeup on, or was dressed cuter, or was being more flirtatious, so [for] the entirety of our dating period I never felt like I had to be anything other than myself,” Jenkins said. “When you’re trying to meet somebody you kind of put up a front, but the day we met I was just out there to kill time and he was there on a study break in the middle of finals, but instead he ended up down there for three hours talking to me.”

Jenkins was very confident in knowing what she wanted from a possible relationship.

“My first two quarters I dated people that really did not fit my value system, so that made me realize that they weren’t keepers,” Jenkins said. “[Elefant] and I share the same values and even though we have different traits, we complement each other. You have to have the same value system and that is the core of our relationship.”

An important value for both of them was establishing themselves professionally and achieving their individual career goals. Jenkins, who was a biological sciences and English double major and is now the chair of the English Department at Terra Nova High School in San Mateo County, pointed out that many people today might reject the opportunity for a relationship because they want to climb higher in the workforce and establish their careers.

“Your graduate school won’t take care of you when you’re sick and it won’t share your joys and your sadnesses,” Jenkins said. “My experience at Davis was largely colored by my relationship and it was the most meaningful thing to happen to me besides the entire growing up process.”

While at UC Davis, Jenkins and her husband broke up a few times, but each instance became a learning experience. They would always come back together to renegotiate, change and grow.

When graduation rolled around, Jenkins and Elefant decided to break up because Elefant had made it clear that he did not want to have children later in life, whereas that was something nonnegotiable for Jenkins.

“We decided to end our relationship at that point, […] because our goals were mutually exclusive,” Jenkins said. “I then left the country to go live abroad for a while because I was so fried out from school. When I was in Israel, [Elefant] wrote me a letter and his [postscript] was ‘do you ever think of us the way that we were?’ That was the moment I knew he changed his mind about having kids. I called him when I got back to the United States and we met up in San Francisco, and from that moment on we’ve been inseparable. I don’t think I’ve been away from him for more than two weeks ever since then.”

When she met her husband back in 1987, Jenkins said she had made up her mind about the kind of person she wanted to end up. Luckily enough, the guy who came along that day at the snack shop happened all of those qualities.

“I’ve spent almost my entire adult life with him to the point where he knows me better than I know myself, and there’s comfort in that,” Jenkins said. “When everything in your life is constantly changing, you have a new set of classes and professors every ten weeks, when you’re worrying if you’re going to get into graduate school or where you will go to graduate school, having somebody who is a source of consistency in your life is essential to feel secure when everything else is constantly changing.”
Written by: Gillian Allen — features@theaggie.org

The story behind the man with the giant-wheeled bike

Nearly five feet off the ground atop a high-wheel bicycle, clad with fingerless cycling gloves, brightly tinted sunglasses and a bike helmet, is the epitomic image of Martin Krieg. As an iconic figure in Davis, Krieg is someone whose presence is instantly noted by students, faculty and residents alike.

Though his high-wheel bicycle is one of his major identifying features around town, Krieg is better known elsewhere as a man who recovered from clinical death, a seven-week coma and paralysis, and then proceeded to cross the United States on his bicycle — twice.

“I’ve been a cyclist all my life,” Krieg said. “For me, cycling [is] emancipative. You know how it feels — the air rolling through your hair, [and] all of a sudden you just feel great.”

As a child, Krieg had a deep interest in bicycles. In Hayward, Calif., Krieg started his journey on a prized Schwinn varsity tenspeed when he was 11 years old.

“[My mother and I] were in a bike shop,” Krieg said. “She said […] ‘If you got all A’s on your report card, I’d buy you it.’ She didn’t think there was any way I could do it. Well, I buckled down. I stopped watching TV. I just went ballistic […] and sure enough, I produced an all A’s report card. She was in disbelief.”

From there, Krieg began to ride his bicycle all over the region, from Hayward to the peaks of the Santa Cruz mountains. He maintained this passion while in college at California State University, Hayward and went on to pursue a career as an accountant after graduation. Krieg continued cycling until 1977, when he got into the car accident that left him temporarily paralyzed.

“All of a sudden I was so low,” Krieg said. “I was as low as a person could go. My friend […] Bobby came over. He knew I was into bicycles, so he showed me his new one he’d gotten. Against his better judgment, he let me ride it, [and] I found a way I could do things again and not […] be in so much pain. It was so amazing. From that point on, I resolved to get […] back on the bike.”

Traveling by bike rather than foot took away much of the pain from his accident, so Krieg returned to cycling. He started out with local rides and worked his way up to rides through multiple states. Eventually, Krieg took his first trip across the country in 1979, only about a year after the accident. The ride from Portland, Ore. to Washington, D.C. took Krieg 43 days to complete on a fifteen-speed bicycle that he purchased after trading in his Honda Accord.

“I was goofing around, going on a little sight seeing tour, until I got to […] Yellowstone,” Krieg said. “I ran into some guys I’d passed, and they made fun of me. They said, ‘Gee, we thought you were gonna be gone by now. You’ve got this […] state of the art […] bicycle. We thought we’d never see you again.’”

The jesting from the group of cyclists angered Krieg. Motivated to stop his sight-seeing and finish the journey, Krieg powered through the last 15 days of the ride.

“I got fired up […], hammering 100 plus miles a day,” Krieg said. “The last day I rode 200 […] miles nonstop. I was possessed.”

According to Krieg, upon arriving in Washington, D.C., he was regarded as a “total pariah” because of the scarcity of cyclists at the time.

“I felt real self-conscious of myself,” Krieg said. “I was kind of embarrassed I’d done something like this. It was after that experience that I made my mind up: ‘I’m gonna come back, and I’m gonna come back big, and I’m gonna make it such that cyclists were celebrated, […] not looked upon as […] pariahs.”

Krieg thus decided to make a more publicity-centered journey a second time in 1986 with the National Head Injury Foundation, as a pre-publication tour for his book “Awake Again.” This time, the ride took over three months, including stops for campaign work.

“[The ride] helped me finally get my book published,” Krieg said. “I learned as a writer. I reached 40 million people with newspapers, radio talk shows and TV.”

In 1994, after his recovery and both cross-country rides, Krieg published “Awake Again,” a book describing his post-accident experiences. He also began to spread awareness for the National Bicycle Greenway, a nonprofit organization encouraging coast-to-coast cycling on the Greenway route that stretches from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. While campaigning for the Greenway and promoting his book in Ireland, Krieg married and had his son, Cayo.

Krieg plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first cross-country bike ride by making the journey with his son in 2029. Krieg also has future plans for the Greenway to incorporate bike boulevards, celebrated bike paths and bicycle signage.

“I love getting up in the morning and knowing that I’m going to be doing things with my mind that are making a difference instead of just passing time,” Krieg said.

Krieg has lived in Davis for a year and half and is currently planning the 15th annual National Mayor’s Ride, which will kick off in Central Park and hit cities such as Reno, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Through his accident, recovery and cycling accomplishments, Krieg has learned countless life lessons that he is enthusiastic to share with the Davis community.

“I want people to realize that when you commit to something, you don’t lose anything,” Krieg said. “I committed to being a success, to prove my life is worth saving. Don’t be afraid to be a success. Being able to live the life I live right now didn’t come from thinking small and accepting prescriptions made for me. It came from willing to be different.”

Indeed, one cannot help but admire Krieg’s will to be different as he nails the running jump onto his high wheel and rides away, a distinct figure even as he merges into the crowd.
Written by: Allyson Tsuji — features@theaggie.org

In flurry of holiday gestures, students learn to love themselves

Celebrating a relationship on Valentine’s Day is a tired cliché. We all know those grossly overstuffed bears will either be burned or beheaded when the relationship ends. So this Feb. 14, treat yo’ self! Valentine’s Day is a holiday about love, and that includes self-love. Feel free to look over and take inspiration from this handy guide in planning your solo Valentine’s Day.

1. Indulge in desserts

Like any worthwhile holiday, eating well is a must. Are you up for the challenge of injecting chocolate into every meal throughout the day? Take a trip to Trader Joe’s and throw those microwaveable chocolate lava cakes into your cart, then find the cashier with the salt-and-pepper hair and kind eyes who will give you a strip of the ‘I left my heart at Trader Joe’s’ stickers. Or, if you are feeling adventurous, bike downtown to Sweet and Shavery and try out its crepe selection. Of course, it is also important to note that all three of the mini grocery stores in the residence areas sell pints of Häagen-Dazs and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

2. Find a good flick

There’s no time like the present to catch up on the Oscar-nominated movies you haven’t seen yet. The Varsity Theater will soon be showing several promising movies that are definitely not meant for cuddling — Isabelle Huppert received a Best Actress nomination for her role in “Elle,” a disturbing semi-psychological French thriller. Also coming soon is  “The Red Turtle,” a silent film from Studio Ghibli about a man and a giant red turtle, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature. If you’d prefer a laptop-sized screen as opposed to the big screen, Netflix and Amazon Prime both have a fair number of great films. Netflix houses a favorite single-anthem movie, “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” as well as the cult classic “The Shining,” the foodie’s paradise series “Chef’s Table” and the mysterious documentary “Finding Vivian Maier.” Via Amazon Prime, you can live vicariously through the single lives of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda in every “Sex and the City” episode ever.

3. Seek out rest and relaxation

To continue with the theme of self-love this Valentine’s Day, plan out a much-deserved day of relaxation. When was the last time you read for pleasure? Grab a book you have been wanting to read and plant yourself in the arboretum. If you’re still in need of a break, the Mind Spa at the Health and Wellness Center offers massaging recliners and chairs for free. Drop by the Akasha Yoga Studio in downtown Davis and take a yoga class for $15, or use just $10 for a manicure at Davis Nails and buy a carton of your favorite Ben and Jerry’s ice cream with the remaining $5.

4. Plan a “Galentine’s Day”

Who says being single on Valentine’s Day means spending it alone? Take inspiration from the passionate and creative mind of character Leslie Knope from “Parks and Recreation” and plan your own “Galentine’s Day.” But try not to go overboard and make pillows for your friends depicting the front covers of the newspapers that were published the day they were born like Leslie did. Get together with your pals and spend the day with them. Bake cookies and top them with pink frosting and sprinkles; plan a breakfast dinner with chocolate chip pancakes or host a make-your-own dessert pizza night; reminisce about middle school whilst exchanging themed Valentine’s cards from CVS. You can even break open Monopoly or Candy Land — but make an effort not to ruin any friendships fighting over hotel fees.

5. Venture outside

No tacit code dictates that single persons must be subject to house arrest on Valentine’s Day. Seize the day! Take a trip to the Manetti Shrem Museum and ruminate on the artwork created by former UC Davis faculty, stroll through one of the many art galleries downtown or go out shopping and peek into thrift shops like Boheme Hip Used Clothing. Or, use your free ticket at the Mondavi Center to go see Grammy award-winning singer Dianne Reeves at 8 p.m.

6. Spread the love

The art of letter-writing is a seemingly-forgotten but nonetheless heartfelt act. Since the crux of this holiday rests on sharing love, make an effort to show the people you care about most that you love and appreciate their presence in your life. No extravagance is required — people do love a good wax seal though. The thought is truly what counts. By acknowledging those in your life who love you, you will never be alone on Valentine’s Day.

Written by: Hannah Holzer – features@theaggie.org