Love a Laker is a one-day giving event where alumni, students, families, faculty, staff, and friends unite toward a common goal: supporting Lake Land College students. Please consider making a gift on February 14. By doing so, you are changing the lives of students. You can donate on our secure site. We thank you in advance for your considered support!
This year, we are doing a Laker Love Story Contest. We know some amazing love stories blossomed right here at Lake Land College, and we want to hear YOURS! Whether you met in class, bonded over late-night study sessions, or connected at a campus event, we want to celebrate your college love story.
To submit, email alumni@lakelandcollege.edu with your story and a few sweet snapshots. Be sure to list your and your partner’s names in the submission.
✨ Please submit your stories before February 9.
✨ Voting will occur ONLY on February 14 on this page.
✨ Receive an extra vote by making a donation on February 14.
✨ The winner will be announced on February 15.
The contest winners will receive a prize from the Lake Land College Bookstore, and have a one-year, annual scholarship named after the couple.
Have questions? Please contact us, and we will help.
My husband, Christian Dolan, and I, Kristen Dolan (formerly Morlen), met at Lake Land College in 2017-2018. At the time, I was the Vice President of Student Government, and he was the Freshman Delegate. We served on multiple committees together and sat side by side during our weekly meetings. He always told me he wanted to overthrow me in my position so we could take my VP role (lol!). We also bonded over our love for Jesus and having similar majors in business. We would have many late-night political and theological debates! We started dating in September of 2018, engaged in August of 2019, and have been happily married since May of 2020. Thank you, Lake Land
My husband, Sam Lodes, and I, Melanie Lode, met in January of 2016 in my first-ever college class – an Economics class taught by Katie Lotz. I had known who he was from around town and always thought he was super cute. The first day I saw him walk into class, I could feel my face turn bright red, and I immediately texted a mutual friend that Sam was in my class, and I was super nervous. I was so nervous that I avoided him at all costs during our group icebreaker to get to know one another. Eventually, a few weeks into the semester, he was unavoidable, and we ended up next to each other while walking out of class and shared an awkward conversation about our test grades. We started dating shortly after meeting, going on lunch dates between classes, and even sometimes making the irresponsible decision to skip classes to hang out. We each transferred to different schools after graduating from LLC. Sam went to WIU in Macomb, and I went to SIUE in Edwardsville. We stayed together through the two years that we were apart and are now married, living in Charleston with our beautiful daughter Guinevere, our dog Harvey, and our cat Khaleesi. We always joke about how thankful we are for Lake Land bringing us together and always think how different our lives would be if we never had that 8 am economics class together. We are so grateful for the love and family that Lake Land has given us (inadvertently)!!
Anthony and I met during the 2022 Fall Semester. This was the 2nd year at Lake Land College for both of us. This was Anthony’s second and final year in Broadcasting and my first year in Broadcasting after switching my major. He went to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while I went on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Our schedules were obviously very opposite of each other. The first time I remember interacting with him was when he was showing me how to run Lake Land’s radio station, WLKL. I thought he was cute, but I kept that to myself, not thinking that anything would come from it. After that, I started seeing him at school more frequently. There were a few of us from the broadcast department who would hang out in what is known as “The Grotto.” Here, he asked for my number to add me to a broadcast group chat, which was never used. Then he did the same with my Snapchat. I didn’t think too much about this either. Around this time, we found out that we were both St. Louis Blues fans. This brought us closer, as we started to try and convince our professor, Greg Powers, to let us make a broadcast club trip to a Blues Game. This plan did not work. However, it made us grow closer! At the end of September, we decided to set up a day to hang out. We visited one of our broadcasting buddies and had a pretty fun night hanging out and eating Taco Bell. That night ended at midnight when I brought Anthony back to his car, which was parked at Walmart. Anthony and I locked eyes, and I knew that there was something special between us. So what did we do in this special moment? Well, Anthony started to move in a bit. I just gave him a smile, two thumbs up, and a fist bump. I am still shocked that this awkward moment didn’t make him run away! We tried to keep things between us, as we weren’t dating at the time. But word did spread around the department quickly. We ended up officially dating on October 1st, 2022. My favorite college memory would be being able to sit in the Field House and watch Anthony graduate with the major that he loves so much and is extremely talented at. I was so proud of him in that moment, and I still am now. Anthony’s favorite memory is when he and I would look for St. Louis Blues tickets while he was supposed to be on a radio board shift. During our shared time at Lake Land College, we did everything together. We attended club meetings, broadcast basketball, softball, and baseball games for the station, bugged Greg Powers together, and so much more. We have now been dating for well over a year. We absolutely love Lake Land, and we are forever grateful for Lake Land College and the broadcasting department. Without it, we would never have met. However, we are excited about the next chapter in our lives to begin after my Lake Land College education ❤️.
I met Nathan in the early fall semester of 2015. We were both attending Lake Land and lived in apartments right next to each other. Nathan was from Southern Indiana, had heard of the John Deere Tech program at Lake Land, and decided to give it a shot. We would never have met if we both hadn’t decided to come to Lake Land. We actually met at the apartments where we lived and hit it off immediately. We spent the next two years at Lake Land growing as a couple and building our future together. Nathan encouraged me to apply for the ADN-RN program Lake Land offers. If it wasn’t for his support and encouragement – I’m not sure I would have followed my dreams. Now that I’m thinking back, some of our favorite moments together happened at Lake Land. We made lifelong friends there that we spent a lot of time with during our years at LLC. They even joked about us being “Lake Land College’s Cutest Couple” Nathan graduated in 2017 from the John Deere Tech program and moved back to Indiana. We went through two years of long-distance while I worked my way through the RN program. We spent many weekends driving back and forth from Mattoon and Jasper, IN! Once I got my degree in 2019, I finally made the move to Indiana to be with him. Now, Nathan and I have been together for over 8 years and married for 1.5 years!! We live on a farm in Southern Indiana with our two dogs, Ollie and Frankie! Enjoy some pictures of us from our Lake Land days, and from now on, thank you for listening to our story!
I, Holli Bell, met my husband, Craig Bell, at Lake Land College in 2011! So this is how the story goes— Craig was playing for the baseball team, and I was playing for the volleyball team! We were in the same 8 am math class. I noticed his hat had a rival high school of mine. I approached him and introduced myself. We then realized we grew up 20 minutes apart! Mind you, we were 2 hours from home. We became fast friends! We would meet outside the apartments and walk to class together. We began to hang out more and more. Craig would come over and ask for math help. The funny part is—- I was HORRIBLE at math, which is by far my worst subject. He’s REALLY good at math! But he would ask for help or ask to do homework together so we could spend time together. He would even go as far as putting the wrong answer down because that’s the answer I got! LOL We spent that semester getting to know each other but were just friends. As I was moving out at the end of the year, Craig came to help move things! My dad pulled me aside and said, “That boy likes you!” I quickly said, “No! We are just friends!” One month of being home for the summer, after 6 months of being friends, he finally grew the nerve to ask me out! The rest is history! We have been together for 12 years, married for 9! We are celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary in Mexico this summer! We have three beautiful children together! We always get a kick out of our Lake Land days! The boy that played dumb to get the girl! We will forever cherish our memories at Lake Land College! We even recently went to a wedding of two other Lake Land Love Birds and had such a fun reunion catching up with our college crew!
Ali Vice, originally from Paris, IL, and chose to attend Lake Lake College after graduating from Paris High School in 2004. A cheerleader at LLC and member of the student government association, Ali studied communication at Lake Land and went on to be SGA President her sophomore year. Todd Rauch, a graduate of Mattoon High School in 2001, went on active duty in the US Army after graduation. He went on to be stationed in Germany and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, where he was later injured by an IED, earning a Purple Heart, which led to his retirement in 2005. Upon his retirement, he moved back to his hometown and enrolled at Lake Land College with a psychology major. Todd’s first semester in the Fall of 2005 (Ali’s 3rd semester), he was enrolled in Western Civilization in the North West building, where Ali chose to sit in the same row. A few weeks later, he ran for Student Government Association and was elected… which is where the real love story began. Todd and Ali spent a good bit of time around each other and quickly fell in love in the student activities room. Ali can pinpoint the moment she fell in love with Todd while he was giving an address to the entire student body on November 11, 2005. His energy and positivity, despite being wounded and having his entire life plan derailed, awed Ali, and she realized being around him brought out the best in her. By November 2005, they were officially dating, and the rest is history. Together, they helped gain the support of the student body and petitioned the Board of Trustees to build the student gym facility that was added to the field house. Todd would go on to be elected as the Student Trustee to the Board of Trustees and graduate and transfer to Auburn University. Ali graduated and went on to attend SIUE. In July 2007, Todd proposed to Ali in front of the Eiffel Tower, and in June 2009, Todd and Ali got married in the place that meant the most to their relationship, Lake Land College. Their wedding was held inside the field house. The Burrell’s purchased them an honorary alumni brick as their wedding present. Today, Todd and Ali are celebrating 18 years together and 14 years married. They reside in Opelika, Alabama, where Ali is the president and CEO of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, and Todd serves as a city councilman for the city of Opelika. In 2022, Todd and Ali were recognized jointly for the Alumni Achievement Award. This is probably way too long, but it represents our story. We owe so much to Lake Land, but nothing will ever surpass the gratitude we have for being the place that brought us together. It’s rare for someone to meet their soulmate at all, let alone at age 19 (Ali) and 22 (Todd). We will forever be grateful for our educations and for being the reason that both of us were in the same place at the same time, allowing us to meet and our lives to change forever!
Dustin and I had a statistics class together in the Fall of 2011. I had to grade his homework …and he had done the wrong homework! So it was a conversation starter! We ended up dating in 2012, married in 2016, first child in 2018, and second in 2020! Dustin started working in the ISS department at Lake Land College in 2019. We took some photos around the campus when we first started dating.
Mason Simmons and I, Christina Douglas, met originally while working at the McDonald’s on Dettro Dr in Mattoon! He had mentioned that he was coming to LLC as a freshman, and so I said, “Hey, can I get your snap? I can show you around, as this is my sophomore year!” He agreed and gave me his Snapchat. When school started we were riding together and often would stop for coffee before coming on campus. I actually convinced him to run for a spot on the Student Government Association (SGA) for freshman delegate while I was the secretary! At the time, I was in a really toxic relationship, and he listened to my stories on our trips to class. And when the time came, he helped me get out of it. One thing led to another, and as of February 16th, we will have been together for 4 months and counting! He has come with me to my family Thanksgiving and even got a Christmas gift from my mother who calls him her favorite child!
I, Krista, came to interview at Lake Land College in late 2002 for a position as an Academic Counselor/Coordinator of Student Life. It was very different from my current role as a mental health therapist, and I was excited for the opportunity. Walking into a conference room in Neal Hall, I was shocked to find 6 people there to interview me. It was so intimidating! Bryan Burrell was one of those people. Although we had both grown up in Mattoon, this was the first time we met. I was hired and started in January 2003, working in Counseling Services, the same department as Bryan. As I got to know him, our friendship grew, and attraction bloomed. I wanted to get to know this handsome, funny man outside of work. In February of 2004, tired of flirting with no direction, I finally asked him out, and he said no! He had plans. Weeks went by, and nothing. I certainly wasn’t going to ask him out again, and in the days leading up to spring break 2004, I vowed to have fun with my friends over Spring Break and forget this Bryan Burrell guy. It was the Friday before Spring Break at 4:45 PM when Bryan finally asked me to go out on a date, and I said yes. A year later we were engaged. A year after that, we were married, and a year after that, we were pregnant with our first son, who was born on Valentines’ Day, 2008.
My husband Bo Blievernicht, and I, Ali Blievernicht(Finn), connected at Lake Land College in 2015. He was an LLC baseball alumnus, I was playing for the softball team at that time, so we connected through many mutual friends. We hit it off as fast friends immediately, and remained the best of friends for the following four years until our friendship evolved into our beautiful relationship in 2019. We purchased our first home in 2020, married in 2021, and welcomed our baby boy in 2022. Although times have slowed down the last couple of years one thing remains for certain, we owe our entire lives together to Lake Land College, and especially our coaches, because if we hadn’t been given those opportunities we never would have made it to where we are together now. So thank you, Lake Land, thank you to our coaches, and thank you to my husband for choosing this life with me. I love you!
My now husband, Matt, and I met when we both took the Intro into Photography class in Neal Hall during the spring semester of our last year at LLC (2014). The first Thursday evening, I arrived early and waited on one of the couches outside of the room. About five minutes after sitting down, I noticed a very cute guy walk in and walk past me and I thought to myself “If he is in the same class, I’m not gonna be able to concentrate!” Sure enough, he comes back and sits across the hallway from me at a table, waiting for the same class. I awkwardly doodled in my planner and stole glances at him every now and then. After a while, the teacher arrived and we went into the room and sat down. I sat on one side along with a friend from my design classes and another guy sat on the other side of the table. And then Matt came and sat beside me! I was very excited and also nervous! During the first half of the semester, we would talk every once in a while, casually. Fast forward a couple weeks, and our teacher, Edward “Duke” Bagger, was talking and mentioned the phrase “the hot and the cold” which prompted Matt to whisper the line from the Frozen song "Summer" to himself. When I overheard, I tapped on his shoulder and said “Did you just quote Frozen?” He shyingly replied “Maybe…..I listened to the soundtrack on the way to class.” And I said “Me too!” The rest of the semester included some minor flirting here and there, but one moment really sticks out to both of us. We were in the dark room and I was taking my first photo through the chemicals to develop and was admiring it after the last bath. Matt was walking behind me and said “Beautiful…….the photo, not you.” trying to make a cute joke, but before he could get his next line out, Duke came up behind us and said to Matt “You done messed that up!” It still makes us giggle to this day! We then graduated in May of 2014, but thankfully, Matt and I didn't lose touch. We went on our first date on May 22 and, after four years of dating, he proposed on May 18, 2018! Matt returned to Lake Land College in August of 2017 to pursue a degree in the John Deere Tech program and graduated in May of 2019, just two months before we got married. We were married on July 6, 2019 and bought our first house in Effingham just a year later! Matt is currently employed at Alliance Tractor in Mattoon as an Integrated Solutions Consultant/Data Specialist and I am currently employed at the Rural King store support center also in Mattoon as a Graphic Designer. We celebrated our ten-year meet-anniversary this past January and will be celebrating our five-year wedding anniversary this July! We are so thankful for Lake Land College and of course, Duke, for making that evening photography class happen! Thank you, LLC Alumni, for giving us a chance to share our love story!
The No Hope Love Connection By Michael Carr In honor of my Bride of 47+ years, Debbie Hubbartt Carr The story of our Love Connection, beginning at Lake Land Jr. College, you ask? It would appear to be by most who knew us to be the most unlikely to succeed connection of all time, because our meeting started in the fall of 1975, but our union as young love didn’t solidify until the late winter of 1977. We attended, as high school graduates from opposite ends of the Lake Land Jr. College district lines. I from Oakland, Illinois and Debbie from Findlay, Illinois. I enrolled as music major and she was enrolled in the secretarial science department, which were two completely opposite worlds in the college of knowledge. How on earth would we ever meet and make this magical love connection? Well, Debbie was a lover of music as well as I, and she joined the Lake Land Choir, and I was automatically, due to my major was part of the same. Unbeknownst to me, at the time, due to my foolish, boyish ways, that most virile young men have at that time of life, thinking of ‘Playing The Field’, let’s just say I was stupidly blind, too blind to see the most perfect woman that the Good Lord ever created on earth was right there, sitting just a few chairs away, singing with me in the choir. Even though I was dumb, many would say, and I would later on agree, the first time I laid eyes on her, she left an everlasting image of her stunning beauty forever sealed in my brain. Some people laugh when I share this part of the story, saying “yeah right”. So here is ‘this part of the story’, The Beginning of The Love Connection. First day of classes, it came time to head to the Field House and engage in our first choir class. I was early, found my seat in the front row of the tenor section. I had a good spot to ‘scope out the chicks’ as they, each in turn, made their grand entrance. The choir had a lot of nice looking, friendly, pretty young girls in it. One entered, then another, and another, and all of a sudden… “hold the phone”… Trumpets blast… Voices from heaven rang out in one mighty chorus as ‘SHE’, the most stunning beauty, wearing a black, bell bottomed, jump suit, dark hair, and EYES, green eyes…eyes like I have never seen before, hypnotized me right there on the spot. I was captivated by ‘those eyes’, big, smiling, stunning eyes, and still to this day melt when I look into them. Wow… what eyes. Well suffice to say that for about a year and a half or better, I apparently elected to remain stupid, to put it bluntly, only allowing a ‘good friend’ relationship to grow between us. She has always stated that she was always ready for us to be ‘MORE’. But me??? I almost blew it. I almost headed for eventually accepting second best. We did all of the music department tours together as just ‘really good friends’. We would spend quality time together, really getting to know one another. Our families knew the other one as ‘our close friend’. We were together at every ‘event’, whether sponsored by the college or private with the rest of the gang, which was approximately 60 music and choir students. And thanks only to God, I finally, FINALLY woke up and smelled the coffee. Questions bombarding my thoughts. “What are you doing? What and who you are looking for in a REAL relationship is right in front of you. Man, straighten up and go get her. So it was at a very small event, dance at the Moose Lodge in Shelbyville, IL, having real conversations with her best friends, and realizing that my best friend was who I was ‘In Love With’, that I decided that night, on Feb. 22, 1977, that the next day I was going to go the Mattoon Mall and purchase a wedding band and would ask Debbie Hubbartt, my BEST FRIEND, to marry me. I struggled to fall to sleep with so much happiness, and joy. I did go and personally select and purchased her wedding band and engagement ring. NOTE TO ALL – Debbie still had no idea what was about to take place, as we had never even so much as had a ‘date’, held hands, or even kissed to this point of our relationship. The next night, we were at another ‘EVENT’. There were about 70 or 80 friends gathered to celebrate another’s birthday. At the selected moment of the evening, I absolutely shocked Debbie by admitting my undying love for her, asking her to be my wife, promising her that we would grow old together, watching our grandchildren play together in our yard, if she would only say “yes” thus making me the happiest man on the planet. After what seemed like 10 minutes to me, but was only several stunned seconds, She said YES, on Feb. 22nd, 1977. We said our ‘I Do’s’ 5 short months later, on July 30th, 1977. There were less than a handful of our friends, instructors, and others that gave us a ‘snowballs chance in you know where’ of making it last. On July 30th this year, along with the 70-80 ‘still friends’ and many more, 3 grown children, their spouses, 9 awesome grandkids, 3 grand-dogs and a grand-kittycat, Debbie and I will celebrate our 48th Wedding Anniversary. Happy Love Connection Deb. Forever and Ever Yours. Mike.