Essex Love Stories: Roxana and Matthew

Roxana Duffy (BSc Marketing and Management, 2014) and Matthew Duffy (BA Philosophy, 2014).

Matthew and I and met in spring 2012 while me and my best friend were looking for off campus accommodation. My friend and I found three other students online who were looking for people to share a house with. Matt was one of them and we met in the William Morris North tower to chat about looking for a house to rent. It wasn't love at first sight, but he did make a good impression with his tidy room (for a guy) and his mismatching socks caught my attention.

It was only in the autumn when I first got to the house and he opened the door that I thought something was different about him. We started going out in the November after falling in love during our weekly trips to Tesco. A typical date night was actually a night... in (because we lived together). We used to order Chinese take away and watch horror films every Wednesday. Or go to the cinema in town and take advantage of the student discount and Orange Wednesdays (when that was still a thing).

Essex will always have a special place in our hearts. A special memory is going to Clacton shortly after we started dating and enjoying the Bonfire Night fireworks near the beach. Another one is going to the summer ball together and really having the best time. And of course our graduation days when our parents met for the first time. 

Our relationship has grown a lot since then. Matt proposed in Central Park in New York while we were on a trip in the US, which was unexpected and the best surprise! We got married in 2019.