The Sullivans

Paula (Farley) '04 M '06 and Ian Sullivan '07

I met Ian in "Sociology of Religion," an evening class held off-site at Rockville High School. I needed the class but didn't want to go to Rockville. My mother made me, and now she loves to say she is responsible for me finding Ian.

It was a Tuesday night in fall 2004. I noticed Ian right away, and as the class took its inevitable break halfway through the three-hour class, people were awkwardly milling about. It was unlike a lot of my other classes. Perhaps because it was off-site, it had a lot of continuing education students: a nurse, a police chief and others. For some reason people weren't chatting among themselves, and finding someone to talk to seemed daunting.

Then I looked down the hall, and there was Ian, chatting with a bunch of people, a whole circle around him. He still is every bit as gregarious as he was then. I remember telling myself, "I have to meet him." I made sure we were in a group together for a project, and the rest is history. We fell in love in Sociology of Religion!

Today we own a home in Willimantic, have been married for six years and have a beautiful three-year-old son named Nolan. I teach in Coventry and Ian works at the nuclear power plant in Niantic.