After a “terrible” day of midterms, Emma Herwehe settles down with her boyfriend, Eli Beck while they relish in pizza and “The Bachelor.” For Herwehe, it felt like a normal night in, but Beck was nervously preparing to pop the question.

“It was just the most casual thing you could’ve ever imagined but everything I could have dreamed of,” Herwehe said.

Their first genuine interaction was when The Journal advisor Mike Klopfenstein brought the two together for a picture when they both were nominated for homecoming court. But, it remained brief and nothing sprouted yet. 

However, the two were brought together again a year later as editors gathered together for dinners which sparked an interest in Herwehe. 

“The more we hung out as a group, just as the editors, I really just started to feel drawn to him, and not even in a lovey way but in a friend way,” Herwehe said.

As time progressed, Herwehe realized her feelings for Beck had grown stronger but figured she shouldn’t act upon them considering that it could serve as a distraction or evoke problems within The Journal.

But shortly after, they confessed to one another over Snapchat and made the decision to secretly date in fear of risking bad morale on staff. 

A couple months in, their friends started to figure out that their friendship was more of a relationship. So, they decided to be more open about it and introduced one another to their families.

When Herwehe’s younger sister, Erin, met Beck she recalls him being quiet but liking him a lot. 

“He was definitely super sweet and we could tell that he kinda just fit right in,” Erin said. 

Erin sees Beck as an ‘older brother’ and Beck shares a similar bond with Herwehe’s younger brother Elias, through basketball and video games which has led their family to grow to love him more.

But even through all this excitement, they continued to prioritize their responsibilities in the newspaper.

“While we were in Journal and doing Journal stuff, honestly we didn’t even have time to think about our relationship,” Herwehe said. “We just had to act as journalists, just do what we needed to.” 

Now, Beck believes that dating in secret helped them maintain their focus. 

“It gave us the chance to kinda get used to the fact that we were both on this publication together,” Beck said. “While also still dati

ng because we kinda had to, not forget that we were dating, but hide it during The Journal.” 

But, Herwehe graduated in 2021 and went off to college at Indiana University Bloomington while Beck remained at SHS.

Herwehe’s experience at college didn’t compare to the time she enjoyed in high school considering that her boyfriend and family lived an hour away while also having to deal with a “terrible” roommate. 

But, through countless FaceTime calls and visits home, the pair was able to keep their relationship thriving.

Eventually, Beck was able to join Herwehe at IU but for his own reasons, not particularly for her.

“It took a lot of work, I’d say, to keep the relationship strong but obviously, we made it work and it’s been so much fun to be at IU together,” Beck said.

Being at IU has allowed the couple to spend more time together and ultimately led to Beck’s proposal.

On a random day, Beck and his mom went out to purchase a ring and that evening, as the couple watched their favorite show together, he pulled the ring out of his backpack and popped the question.

“I didn’t want to hold onto it (the ring) anymore,” Beck said. “I wanted her to have it.”

With this proposal, the couple has grown eager to start a life together.

They’re not completely sure what the future holds, but they share excitement in starting a future together that includes possibly getting a dog, traveling and simply living life.

“You can’t really plan out those aspects because neither of us have any idea where we’re going to end up,” Beck said. “But I’d say (we’re) really excited, I guess, to start our lives together outside of college.”