Trey Tietz first met Allie Givens when he was in fourth grade. They became friends around fifth or sixth grade and started dating his senior year of high school. Today they are happily engaged.

Tietz, a P3 pharmacy major, had been dating Givens, who is studying at Kent State University in Ohio, for six years. In July, he finally popped the question to her. Even though they have been together since high school, Tietz went away to Wilkes while Givens was still back home in Ohio until she joined him a year later. This semester she transferred to Kent State.

Tietz said when he and Givens started dating, they knew there would be a long-distance component to their relationship because he was a senior in high school at the time.

“We were at the point where we knew that I was going to be at college and she was going to be in high school another year so we kind of talked about that beforehand. We just said we were dedicated to it and that we weren’t going to let it get in the way of anything,” Tietz said.

He said he and Givens were both committed enough to their relationship to make it work and both have the personality to make the relationship work. He explained that communication is a big factor in keeping their relationship strong.

“We talk frequently throughout the day, not necessarily on the phone, but we text each other good morning every morning,” Tietz said. “She usually will call me before she goes to work or before I have a big test or something.”

Tietz said he and Givens also try to video chat every week when they can and send each other letters in the mail every once in a while. He said some of the challenges they have faced are times when they individually are going through something rough or stressful. However they are able to pull through those times together.

“When we’re going through rough times individually, those times can be challenging,” Tietz said. “The good thing is that we can go through those together.”

Tietz explains his favorite quality of hers is her caring nature.

“The best thing about Allie is that she cares about people more than anyone I’ve ever met in my whole life,” Tietz said. “She’s such a caring person and she would really do anything for anybody.”