Kristen and Darrick Sesker

Kristen’s story

Class of 2009 | Criminal Justice

We met at Gwynn Park High School in Prince George’s County. We both played basketball. It was not until he transferred to TU to play basketball that anything changed.

We were together a lot. When we would come home on breaks, we would spend a lot of time together. The summer of 2006 my mom and a couple of our friends were like, "You guys like each other." But it was not until we came back to school for that fall semester I said, "Hey, people think that we like each other." He’s like, "Duh."

I feel like we’ve been together every day since. We had been dating for a while before we were engaged. One day, we went to one of our favorite restaurants—Stoney River in Annapolis. There was an older couple with a younger couple having dinner, and you could tell they had made some type of announcement. I said to Darrick, "I’m pretty sure they told them they’re having a baby or engaged or something.” Less than 20 minutes later, the waitress is holding his phone and he’s getting down on one knee. And now everybody’s clapping for us.

The wedding was at Herrington on the Bay on a Friday night—June 27, 2014. We had a 300-person get-together. And we danced and partied all night. We’re true Marylanders. The recovery day everybody ate bushels and bushels of crabs before we caught a plane to go to Hawaii. We had a very, very good time.

It went fast from there. Our house was finished in 2015. And then our first son, little Darrick, was born November 2015. We had another son in July 2018—Kruz. And we are full-on sports parents. We have been making a lot of progress in our careers. I started out in the mental health field, and now I am a psychotherapist.

Our longevity is because we were best friends first. We still are best friends. Growing with somebody that has the same understanding and foundation is what kept us together, it sounds crazy to say, almost 20 years later.

Darrick’s story 

Class of 2008 | Sports Management

I was a senior in high school, and she was in the ninth grade, and both of us were playing sports. When I transferred to TU, I came from a junior college before the basketball season. I was initially ineligible to play, and that’s when our time together picked up a lot because I was a normal student at that point.

Our birthdays are around the holidays, so when we went home for Christmas break and spent a lot of time together, we decided to make it official.

We spent a lot of time in the student union, getting salads and smoothies at After Hours and PAWS a lot. I remember I came to her apartment and was like, "I think I’m done with basketball." From that point on, we spent every minute together.

A friend of mine was married young. And then one time, he asked, "So when are you going to get married?" I was like, "You know what? That’s a valid question." I started ring shopping. And then one day, I asked if she wanted to go out to dinner. I was super nervous. I didn’t eat my food. It seemed like a normal Friday to her, but I had it all planned out.

The wedding was a good time. It was a Friday night wedding, so a lot of people had just gotten off work. It started with a happy hour vibe. We had an open bar. It was right on the water, so it wasn’t too hot outside. All our friends and family came. To be honest with you, it was a big party, and we just happened to get married there.

It’s been awesome. We got into our careers with our TU degrees, putting them to work. I’m an assistant athletic director for a local community college. We started a family, and now we’re into sports every weekend—basketball, baseball, football. It’s been good, just growing and watching our kids grow.

Kristen and Darrick with their children little Darrick (top) and Kruz. (Photos courtesy Kristen and Darrick Sesker)