As a student at St. Joe’s, there’s probably one term you hear more than most – “hawkmates.” What are they and how do you know if someone is really your hawkmate? For those who don’t know by now a hawkmate is essentially a soulmate, except that its someone you met at SJU during your four years. If you marry your hawkamte, the Hawk himself will actually come to your wedding!
So I found DJ and Kelly, alumni who are getting married in the SJU chapel in May 2018 and asked Kelly how they knew that they were hawkmates during their time here at SJU.
“I guess I knew he was my hawkmate when he became the only face I wanted to see when I walked around campus. We cared about the same things at school such as ministry and service (trips like Apex and weekly service) and we both were involved with red shirts and hawkhosts. I still thank Beth (the lady in charge of redshirts) for putting him on the team! And then ultimately when he asked me to marry him in Barbelin courtyard.”
The most important part after knowing someone is your hawkmate is how to maintain the relationship throughout your busy and stressful life in college. Kelly advised; “He supported me through everything and same with me. We are each other’s best friends. My advice is not to only hangout with each other all the time but if you can maintain a good balance between school, clubs, friends, etc. and still make time for each other, I think you can make it through anything.”
Wishing the best of luck to DJ and Kelly!
– Erin Paccione
