Valentines: Amrith (Mago) Aakre & Johann Aakre

Alumni couple Amrith (Mago) Aakre and Johann Aakre with their children, Anders and Anjali.
Alumni couple Amrith (Mago) Aakre and Johann Aakre with their children, Anders and Anjali. (Photo: Courtesy of the Aakre family)

During their junior year at GW, Johann Aakre, SEAS BS ’03 was the roommate of a good friend of Amrith (Mago) Aakre, SEAS BA ’03—a friend that happened to believe that Johann and Amrith “belonged together.”

Although both Johann and Amrith were students of GW’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, they had never officially met.

Several times, their mutual friend tried to arrange for the two to meet up—but to no avail.  So, he decided to throw a Valentine’s Day party, which was co-hosted by Johann.

But there was a catch: the party was for single people only. As guests arrived, Johann stood by the door and handed each girl a rose with a number attached to it. He also took a dollar bill from each guy that arrived, and wrote a number on it.

“They had a makeshift bar in the kitchen, and you couldn’t get a beverage until you found your ‘date’ with the matching number,” remembers Amrith. “So, when I came in about an hour after the party started, Johann was standing there and gave me a rose with ‘1’ written on it.”

Little did she know, it was all part of an elaborate plan for Johann to finally meet Amrith.   As Johann recalls, “I knew who she was and had a huge crush, but I needed an excuse to talk to her.  What better way than a party?”

“Of course, he had the dollar bill with my matching number,” adds Amrith. “We had great time together, and have been inseparable ever since!”

The two spent the rest of their time at GW together, enjoying their college experiences and having a fantastic time exploring all that DC had to offer.  They even sat next to each other on stage during their commencement ceremony.

“I nominated Johann for the Wall of Fame in the Hippodrome,” says Amrith, “so he is always going to be a part of GW, too!”

Today, Johann and Amrith have been married for nearly nine years and have “two amazing kids.” Their son, Anders, is three and a half, while daughter Anjali is 16 months.

The happy family resides in Chicago, where Amrith is a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney, prosecuting felony offenses. Johann followed his dream of designing bridges as a structural engineer at HNTB Corp.

Though they live across the country, GW still holds a special place in their hearts.

“We are very close with our old GW crew; we’ve traveled with them and have been to their weddings all over the world,” says Amrith. “We still remember our time at GW as one of the best times of our lives!

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