“Is this Johnny from Chi Phi?”

Those were the magic words that untangled an invisible string and unfolded the love story between Penn State alumni Amanda Hall and Johnny Scarpelli.

After “too many missed connections,” the New York natives and Class of 2021 graduates finally hit it off in October 2020 when Hall got a text message from Scarpelli. 

“I was sitting at the counter of my senior year college apartment, working on an Italian paper and casually scrolling on my phone — as all procrastinators do on a Sunday after a Penn State football game — when I received a message,” Hall recalled.

At the time, Scarpelli was sitting in a parking lot with the windows down and enjoying the “fall vibes” when, to his surprise, Hall’s name appeared on his phone. After messaging back and forth for hours, the two realized they shared much in common and even had several serendipitous encounters.

“We had classes together since we were both comms majors, even being in the same BiSci class, our frat and sorority were THON partners and had many events together,” Hall said. “Johnny’s sister, Lexie, was my first-ever college friend and the first person I met at Penn State… And, according to Johnny, while he was working at South Dining, he saw me from across the dining hall, and he was taken away…not ever thinking he’d see me again.”

Scarpelli concurs their love story was “destined” after noticing Hall in a photo with his sister, realizing the link they have in common and seeing her “contagious” smile in South.

“I swore that we should’ve met so many times before,” Scarpelli said. “But the universe was letting us know that it was finally time. I am a big believer in ‘everything happens for a reason,’ and it was time for these two to finally meet.”

After a few days of texting, Scarpelli and Hall went on a date and “clicked right away.” Their senior year was changed for the better as they made memories from going to their first dinner date at the Allen Street Grill to going to the bars to staying up late to finish homework to being quarantined together due to COVID-19. 

When quarantine was over and Hall headed back to New York, she realized how much she didn’t want to leave Scarpelli.

“I felt a lump in my throat, even though [being in New York] was only going to be a month, I didn’t want to leave Johnny, and I didn’t want to leave State College, and I think in that moment I knew I was smitten,” Hall said.

Almost four years later, Johnny got down on one knee in front of Old Main on September 20. He carefully chose the location and landed on the Penn State landmark because of its symbolization within their relationship.

“I felt that since we met here, live here, and share an abundance of memories together, it only felt right,” Scarpelli said. 

The pair is enjoying their engagement amid football season, autumn, and living in State College. Scarpelli works for the university as a multimedia specialist for the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute and Hall works remotely for a consulting firm doing internal communications.

From the moment Scarpelli picked Hall up outside of Cozy Thai and thought, “Man, if she isn’t the one, then I don’t know who is,” to planning a blue-and-white-themed wedding, the couple wrote the first chapter of their happily ever after Penn State style.