Chris Wink took his girlfriend, Shannon McDonald, to their favorite restaurant for her birthday last year. They walked around Old City and the water front after their meal, and eventually wound up at Chris’s favorite park, Race Street Pier. There, he got down on one knee, and proposed.
Their love story however, began long before, in an office on the second floor of the Howard Gittis Student Center.
“I remember it vividly,” said Chris, the Editorial Director and co-founder of Technical.ly, a local news site. “243 – The Temple News Room, left most cubicle. Shannon had her back to the door; she was probably editing something. I was attracted to her instantly.”
Shannon, an adjunct professor of journalism research and multimedia storytelling, as well as acting community manager of BillyPenn, has a little bit of a different take on their meeting. “I thought he was attractive, but I had no intentions of dating anyone I worked with.”
But that is exactly what Shannon did. Their first date was a slice of barbeque pizza and a soda at a pizza place on the Anderson Pad, outside of Anderson Hall on 12th street. They have been together ever since.
Coming to Temple University, neither Chris or Shannon ever thought they would meet their future spouse. Shannon, a Philadelphia native, felt like Temple was a natural choice, as she was pursing a degree in journalism. Chris, who is originally from Northern New Jersey, thought Temple and Philadelphia were worth trying.
Eight years later, in July of 2015, the couple was married.
When asked how the newlyweds were able to build their careers and make time for each other, Shannon and Chris both agreed it was easier than people would think. “Our relationship isn’t entirely talking about the news, which I think people believe.” Chris added that they have “a great respect for calendars.”
Both credit The Temple News for where their career paths have led them. “I have a degree in Political Science, I didn’t even know the news was an industry one could get in to,” admitted Chris. “My RA Brandon Lausch told me he thought I should get involved [with the Temple News]. And eventually I found people I identified with. The Temple News was the building block of my career.”
Shannon on the other hand, knew that she wanted to be a journalist, and contacted the editor to get involved with the paper. In her time there, she was managing and copy editor. “It made me an adult, where I learned no one is going to hold your hand. It taught me how to be a journalist.” The Winks added that many of their colleagues from The Temple News are still friends to this day, and many in fact, attended their wedding.
With a glance at their resume, one could say the Winks are “Temple Proud” and “Temple Made.” But no one, let alone Chris or Shannon, could have predicted they would be a “Temple Made Love Story.”
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