If true love was right in front of you, you think you’d know it instantly. For Victoria Daub, things didn’t quite happen that way — but what came later was well worth the wait.

Victoria was first introduced to Shawn Seeley when they had Biology 110 together during their freshman year at the Altoona campus. Despite being in class together for a few days each week and a fair share of mutual friends, the two hardly said a word to one another.

“I remember joking that he was the know-it-all in the class because he always answered Dr. Laura Palmer’s questions,” Daub said.

Later that year, a mutual friend convinced Daub to go with her to a birthday party that Seeley’s friends in Altoona’s Agricultural Club were holding for him. Even after that, the pair barely knew each other. It wasn’t until almost a year later that things finally changed.

“We ended up having Biology 240 together, which is when we ended up becoming really good friends,” Daub said. “We started talking and hanging out towards the end of our sophomore year of college.”

Daub and Seeley became even closer as the semester went on, talking almost every day and even making plans to hang out over the summer. Despite the increased amount of time spent together, neither of them thought very much of it.

“If you would have said by the end of the summer we’d be dating, we would have laughed in your face,” Daub said. “We were just friends.”

Eventually, mutual friends began to see what even the future couple themselves couldn’t. Even after being interrogated on a daily basis about the status of their relationship, neither of them batted an eye.

“I didn’t think of him like that,” Daub said. “At least, I didn’t think I did.”

But after a summer visit, the truth was undeniable.

Toward the end of June, Daub drove to Seeley’s parents’ camper to spend a weekend with him. When she arrived, Seeley was nowhere to be found. He’d somehow forgotten to tell Daub he was stuck at work for the day, leaving her to fend for herself in an unfamiliar environment. Instead of packing up to leave, Daub made the most of the situation and spent the day with Seeley’s cousins and siblings.

“Something in me told me not to run away,” she said.

After deciding to spend yet another summer weekend together, Daub and Seeley could no longer hide the truth. The spark that countless peers, friends, and relatives had always seen finally became clear to the couple.

The pair has been together for more than a year now and have been able to make a relationship work despite currently being at different campuses. Daub is majoring in biology at Altoona while Seeley studies wildlife and fisheries science at University Park. After they graduate this May, the couple plans to move to Ohio while Daub pursues her master’s degree and Seeley works for Fairport Harbor Fisheries. They still laugh at how long it took them to realize what was right in front of them.

“It’s so true that you find love when you stop looking.”