Thanks to Pooja Shah Kothari, CCAS BA ’14 and Yogin Kothari, ESIA BA ‘11, for sharing their story, and to Nupur Moondra, GWSB BAccy ’12, MAccy ’13, for nominating the couple!
Where and how did you meet?
We met in early 2010 – through a mutual friend. Yogin was finishing up his third and final year at GW and Pooja was a first-year.
What were your first impressions of each other, and how did your relationship grow?
Pooja: My first impression of Yogin was that he was this geeky, lanky, annoying but very intelligent and loyal guy. Yogin and I became best friends right away – we grew close over our shared love of television shows, movies, and books. We confided in each other and made fun of each other.
Yogin: My first impression of Pooja was that she was this short, kind of nerdy, Indian girl from New Jersey. I actually first met her in person in an elevator in the Marvin Center and started making fun of her right away. But we hit it off immediately and realized we had a lot of similar interests. It was easy to talk to each other, and it was even easier to tease her. 
We were best friends for two and a half years – sharing lots of laughs, inside jokes, and making memories in and around GW. Then, we both realized that there might be something more to our friendship. After knowing each other for so long, being in a relationship felt natural. Yogin asked Pooja out on August 25th, and our first date was a couple days later at a Nats game.
The next few years were filled with a lot of fun memories around D.C., from regularly attending GW basketball games to eating lots of good food. We also took the time to travel together, going on road trips and usually visiting a couple national parks. After dating for four years, Yogin proposed in May 2017 at Great Falls Park. We got married on August 25, 2018 – five years to the date Yogin asked Pooja out.
Do you have an #onlyatGW moment that you shared as a couple?
We have a few highlights from our early dates: (1) biking around the national mall during a government shutdown; (2) sitting courtside at the Smith Center watching GW basketball; (3) getting engaged at Great Falls Park; (4) going on evening walks to the Kennedy Center.
Tell us about your last visit to campus, or how the school has remained important in your life.
We’ve been back to campus a couple times together pretty recently. We are still GW basketball season ticket holders and have gone to a couple games this season. We also stopped by campus to visit Pooja’s brother, who is now a junior in SEAS. GW will always be an important part of our lives because we fell in love there and had so many special moments all around campus.
We’re sure we’ll be back pretty soon because Yogin is now attending graduate school at GSPM!
Anything else you’d like to share?
#RaiseHigh
