Bridgewater is very important to us. I think we will always go back to visit whenever we can. It’s where we started our life together.
Some love stories start with fireworks. For Maddie Monagle, ’18, and Jonny Matthews, ’19, it began with friendship – formed in Pope Hall and shaped by the everyday moments of life at Bridgewater State University.”
“We really were like best friends at first,” Monagle recalled, noting their friend groups started hanging out together soon after Matthews moved in as a transfer student. “Then we started dating, and the rest is history.”
A decade later, the couple is living in Quincy and preparing to tie the knot in October. They credit Bridgewater State with providing not only a great education but the beginnings of a lifelong partnership.
Monagle and Matthews bonded over meals in dining halls and Emma’s Pizza nearby. They lived in a coed suite in Crimson Hall, cheered on the football team, and attended homecoming festivities. Monagle and Matthews were even study buddies, helping each other survive a difficult astronomy class.
“We really were inseparable,” Monagle said. “We were hanging out all the time.”
United by a shared passion for helping others, their bond persevered even as Monagle graduated, and Matthews stayed at BSU for his senior year.
“She has a really big heart and genuinely cares about the people in her life, and also people she doesn’t know,” said Matthews.
Monagle added: “He’s just very generous and driven to help others, and that is something I appreciate and am drawn to.”
Their career ambitions also revolve around serving others. Matthews, who studied criminal justice, works as a guidance counselor at Everett High School. Monagle, who earned a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications, is pursuing a master’s degree in social work and working as a team lead support analyst at Amadeus, a global technology company that serves the travel and tourism industry.
Though their careers diverged from their majors, Monagle and Matthews gained numerous transferable skills from BSU.
“It’s a great community of people. The school really helped me build relationships,” Monagle said, praising the opportunity to be immersed in a diverse, multicultural student body. “It was a very welcoming school.”
Matthews appreciated the real-world connections and experiences his professors brought into the classroom. He values the academic and personal growth that comes with being a Bear.
“Bridgewater is very important to us. I think we will always go back to visit whenever we can,” Monagle said. “It’s where we started our life together.”
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