First came love, then came studying — and finally — a marriage.
Jeff Sylvain proposed to Jocelyn Nunez in a kayak two years ago.
“He put on this ‘Marry Me’ song,” Nunez remembers. “He was like, ‘I need you in my life’ and I was like, ‘YES.’”
That part was easy.
The pair had been dating since the 11th grade. They met in a tutoring class for Advanced Placement courses at North Miami Beach Senior High School. She was down to earth and a little shy. He was sunny and outgoing. Both were passionate about their faith, social justice and community issues.
After high school, Nunez was supposed to go to Mount Holyoke College on a scholarship. Sylvain was supposed to go to Mississippi State University. But circumstances intervened and both ended up attending St. Thomas University instead.
The next decision was about a career path. Should they study the same major? Which one? Were they crazy?
The answers were yes, nursing and a little crazy.
The high school sweethearts dove in, completing their pre-nursing courses at St. Thomas just about the time Sylvain declared his intentions in the kayak.
They applied to a few programs and fate struck again – they both got accepted to Barry University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences the same day.
“I went to her job and told her,” Sylvain recalls. “We thanked God and prayed about that. We were the first ones in our families pursing a bachelor’s degree. It was such a dream come true.”
Barry University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is challenging and both were determined to ace the coursework. On the advice of family and mentors, they put marriage plans on hold until after earning the degree.
The hardest part was finding time to nurture their relationship. Nunez remembers the advice of the late Dr. Fern Peoples, then an associate professor of nursing: “She always told us the goal is to graduate, but learn to balance the relationship.”
“It was hard,” Nunez continues. “I remember the late nights. At the Thompson building, we’d literally put tables and chairs together and bring pillows and blankets.”
“There were times we had to put our relationship on the back burner,” Sylvain agrees. “We watched other people going on dates and we were studying all the time. It was difficult but we stuck through it. We let our relationship blossom through it.”
In August, all the hard work paid off. The couple pinned each other at the pinning ceremony, a time-honored nursing school tradition, celebrating both of them completing the degree with honors. Not long after, they finally made good on the promises made in that kayak two years ago.
“Jeff can find the upside to everything,” says his new bride. “He has that bright charming smile to get you through. Finding someone who’s willing to fight with you and build with you, I can’t let this go ever.”
Up next, the honeymoon — and studying for their RN license exam and the graduation walk in December. Both already have jobs lined up at Jackson Memorial Hospital. They plan to get a few years of bedside nursing experience and then return to Barry for their master’s in nursing.
They plan to do it together, as always.