Kaitlyn Schmidt is from San Diego, California, and Drew Gendreau is from Puyallup, Washington – 1,228 miles apart.
“We never would have met if it weren’t for Boise State University,” said Kaitlyn. ”We both roomed in the COBE Living Learning Community and were next door neighbors. We met on the first day of move-in and started dating 3 weeks after that.”
Their first “date” was one night when Drew knocked on Kaitlyn’s door and asked if she wanted to go on a late night Taco Bell run to get Baja Blasts before finishing their homework. They have been together ever since.
The Attraction
When Kaitlyn first met Drew she thought he was really sweet and really smart. Drew thought Kaitlyn was very smart, attractive and confident.
“What drew me to Drew was his willingness to help others in any situation – good or bad,” said Kaitlyn. “He makes you feel seen and valued even in a big group of people.”
“The thing that attracted me to Kaitlyn was how easily we connected. She is very caring and thoughtful and it was easy to have conversations together,” said Drew.
The Proposal
The summer after their junior year, Kaitlyn and Drew took a road trip from Boise to Atlanta to visit family.
“I remember,” said Kaitlyn, “my mom asked me if I thought Drew was going to propose on our trip. I said ‘no’ because he knows I want video of it happening. On the second to last day of the trip, we took a detour to Arches National Park.
“We came to the lookout of the most famous arch called Delicate Arch. There were a lot of people around so we went further down the trail which seemed normal since Drew likes to explore off the beaten path. We had our tripod with us, as we had every other stop of the road trip, so we could both be in the pictures we were taking. We took a few pictures and then Drew set up the tripod for one last picture. Instead of a picture, he started a video, which I thought was a mistake. As he walked over to me I was trying to tell him he had hit the wrong button. He just smirked and kept walking toward me. Once he got to me, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a ring, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was totally shocked and hadn’t expected him to propose at that moment, but I happily said yes.
“We got married in Nampa, Idaho, in the wine country on June 24, 2023, surrounded by family and friends.”
Plans for the future
Drew and Kaitlyn graduated from Boise State in 2023 and both were COBE Outstanding Graduates in their programs. Drew graduated in information technology management and works at the corporate office of Albertsons as a sourcing analyst. Kaitlyn was the Outstanding Graduate in finance. She double majored in accountancy and finance. Kaitlyn works at Deloitte in audit and assurance.
The couple plans to stay in Boise for the foreseeable future. They enjoy going to football games and being involved in COBE as much as they can. They will continue to take trips together, and have one planned to go to Iceland and London this summer. Drew plans on getting his MBA in the future and Kaitlyn is working toward her CPA certification.