After one too many traumatic life upheavals and one too many bad Bumble dates, we met over "shrimp balls" at a kitschy tapas bar. The date went so well that a week later, Matt invited me on a 5-hour-road trip to a basketball tournament. Wary, I asked him if he was a serial killer, to which he replied, "how many does it take to become serial?" Where I usually would've blocked a man immediately, I decided to take the risk. And 2 years later, we're headed to that same tournament this week.

While the OG road trip is hard to top, our favorite memory has probably been our road trip to Pittsburgh. For me, it was the chance to recontextualize a place of heartbreak and abrupt endings with a man who truly loves me. For Matt, it was a chance to bond with my former boss, who had taken to sending him antagonistic payroll memes, and eat to food that for some reason always had French fries on it. It was an amazing time and Matt and Chris still exchange memes daily.

Between student loan debt and house prices, we weren’t sure where $20k would make the most meaningful impact. But as Irish Americans, we realized the true gift would be reconnecting with our roots. Matt and his family have never been to Ireland, and we’d use the prize to take his mom, dad, brother, and sister where their ancestral story began. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip to honor heritage, create new memories, and share something deeply personal with the people who mean the most to us.