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THE BLUE & GOLD

“Tiger Marriages”: TAS Alumni share their post-high school love stories

Justin and Antoniette pose for wedding photos on June 2, 2016. [COCO LEE/THE BLUE & GOLD]

Justin Cho (‘11) and Antoniette Chang (‘11)

Justin and Antoniette first met in Mrs. Ether Wong’s eighth grade math class.  Starting off as classmates who occasionally spoke to each other to ask what the homework was, their occasional interactions grew into a friendship that eventually sparked the relationship that still exists today.  
Though high school sweethearts are often stereotyped as having perfect relationships, Antoniette admits that the couple faced obstacles along the way ,especially while maintaining a long distance relationship after high school.
She said, “Although we were lucky and were only two hours away by bus and train between New York and Philadelphia, it was hard to get used to seeing each other only once or twice a month from almost every day in high school. We had to find a way to continue living our own lives while still being there for one another when needed. This definitely strengthened our relationship.”
Throughout their long distance journey, being dependable for one an whilst pursuing their own interests has been a prominent theme of Antoniette and Justin’s relationship.  
After eight years of dating, Antoinette and Justin got married during the summer of 2016.  Eager to share their experience, they comment on how high school sweethearts are a “relationship that takes years to build,” and is different than all others. “You’ve seen each other go through life and grow into adults,” she says. “This person has accepted and loved you at every stage of your life unconditionally.”
 

Cynthia and Alfred attend the annual Ivy Ball for Ivy League school alumni. [PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREN WOO]

Cynthia Hsu (‘91) and Alfred Woo (‘89)

Imagine marrying the person you never spoke to on the bus. This is Cynthia Hsu (‘91) and Alfred Woo (‘89)’s story.
Cynthia and Alfred met through a mutual friend after they both finished college. Alfred said “I knew she was the one I was going to marry” right after they met and they got married the next year.
They have come a long way from high school, where they knew of each other because they were both in IASAS sports, but rarely talked.  Alfred and Cynthia have been married happily for around 18 years now, with many happy memories of sharing breakfast at their favorite Jewish deli after a run in Central Park.
Both of them have never thought of marrying someone from Taipei American School at all; however, they would have loved to have met earlier as they think that it is “great to find your partner so early.” Lauren Woo (‘20) does not entirely agree with this.  “I don’t think it’s realistic because I have seen so many long-distance partners fail, and people also change a lot as we grow up.”
Despite this, Lauren is always eager to share her parents’ love story.  Her younger siblings, Emily Woo and Renee Woo, will be transferring to the class of ‘24 and ‘26, respectively, next school year.

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