Hearts at Harris: Roses, Relationships, and Regression Analyses

February 14, 2024

Kaylen Ralph

For more than 30 years, the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy has been awarding degrees, launching careers, and even sparking lifelong romantic relationships. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, a few of Harris’s couples have shared details of their love stories and updates on their shared lives since graduation, a tradition Harris began in 2019. Some of these couples arrived at Harris together, only to grow more in love during the years they spent holed up at Harris and exploring Hyde Park; others met crossing paths in shared classes or school activities, and they’ve been together ever since. All have gone on to apply their educations in policy, leaving their own mark on the world, hand in hand.

This is Hearts at Harris.

Diego Macera and Jessica Victor, both MPP‘14

Jessica Victor and Diego Macera, both MPP'14

Neither Jessica nor Diego, both MPP’14, were looking to get into a serious relationship when they arrived at Harris for their first week of classes in 2012, but that’s the thing about love at first sight.

The Friday before their first quarter of classes started, Jessica and Diego met at a mixer (this one school-sanctioned) with fellow incoming students and Harris alumni. There was bus transportation provided for a post-mixer bar crawl, and the couple-to-be crossed paths early on that night and hit it off.

Their immediate connection caught them off guard, and it certainly didn’t align with the vision they had for the next two years of their lives.

“Neither of us were looking for a long-term relationship,” Jessica said. “It was the very beginning of everything. But that night we met each other and we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.”

They had entered Harris with aspirations to pursue careers as economists, and therefore had similar interests and anticipated academic track. It also meant they had nearly identical class schedules. To stay focused on their studies, Jessica and Diego established a few ground rules: they formed their own separate study groups, and they didn’t sit next to each other in the classes they shared.

Rules aside, they had a blast during their two years together at Harris. They both lived in Hyde Park, and they took turns introducing each other to their favorite TV shows (his: South Park; hers: Arrested Development), going on walks to the Point, dates to the bookstore, and their favorite Italian restaurant, Piccolo Mondo (which closed in November 2022). Jessica, who was born and raised in Chicago’s north suburbs, started taking Spanish lessons so she could communicate better with Diego’s family in Peru and the other Latin international students.

Diego and Jessica had entered Harris with aspirations to pursue careers as economists, and therefore had similar interests and anticipated academic track.

“We both had the feeling we didn't even have a choice about being together…we were just so compatible,” Jessica said. “We had the same sense of humor, the same interests…even though we grew up in such completely different worlds.”

But as their two years at Harris came to an end in 2014, the couple arrived at the first turning point in their relationship.

“We were really happy, but then we were graduating and trying to figure out what the next steps would be,” Diego said.

Initially, their plan was to move together to Washington D.C. for the plethora of job prospects there for professionals in their field. Diego was working at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in Chicago and thought he might transfer to their office in D.C. upon graduation. Then he got the unexpected call offering him a great opportunity back home in Peru with the Peruvian Institute of Economics, an institution he’s still affiliated with today.

It wasn’t an easy decision for Jessica and Diego to make as a couple.

“When he presented this as an option, I was nervous,” Jessica said. “It was never in my plan.”

Jessica’s Spanish was still beginner’s and she’d be moving to Peru without knowing anyone other than her boyfriend and his family. She didn’t have any job prospects there, either.

“Those were the three really huge considerations: taking a leap of faith with no job, no Spanish, and no ring (yet),” Diego said.

Diego said he was willing to follow through on their original plan of relocating to D.C. if Jessica wasn’t on board with their “big adventure” to move to Peru, but luckily, she was game.

The initial agreement was that they would move to Peru for two years, Jessica said. They would move together and have a chance to travel, Jessica could learn Spanish, and hopefully find a job that would gain her some international experience (which she did, at the World Bank, soon after their move).

That was almost 10 years ago. Both Diego and Jessica still work for the companies that brought them to Peru, and they are still as happy together as they were during their years at Harris.

“That was how we always evaluated staying, because now it's been over nine years that we've been down here,” Jessica said. “Which was never what I signed up for! But, every year, or every big turning point, we've reevaluated together: ‘Is this still working? Are we still happy?’”

That answer has remained a resounding “yes.” After their first year in Peru, the couple went back to Chicago to visit Jessica’s family, and their old stomping grounds in Hyde Park. Diego proposed at Piccolo Mondo and Jessica said yes. They were married at Promontory Point exactly one year later, in 2016. Their daughter, Emilia Claire (“Emi” for short), was born in 2018. Their family of three will become four this March.

“We're very close with Diego's family here,” Jessica said. “We live down the street from his parents, from his siblings, his aunts, his grandmas–we're all in the same neighborhood. It's part of the reason that we've decided to stay. Having so much family around has been really formative for Emi too, because (especially as the only grandchild), she gets all the love in the world.”

During the pandemic, Diego was appointed by Peru’s Congress as a board member of the country’s Central Bank (the equivalent the US Federal Reserve). The appointment will keep their family in Peru at least until 2026, at which point the couple will reassess their options together, like they always have, and always will.

Mexico Vergara Bahena AM‘23 and Arnoldo Ayala MPP Class of 2024

Mexico Vergara Bahena MP'23 and Arnoldo Ayala MPP Class of 2024

If you’ve ever read a romance novel, or watched a romantic comedy, you may be familiar with the enemies-to-lovers trope. And while Mexico Vergara Bahena AM’23 and Arnoldo Ayala MPP Class of 2024 were never actually enemies … their story is not one of love at first sight, either. So how did these two leading men navigate the arc from standoffish classmates to happily dating?

Allow us to set the scene: It’s the fall of 2022, and the beginning of a new school year at the University of Chicago. First-year students in the Harris School of Public Policy are gathered at the pub for some informal fun prior to classes kicking off.

After a few beers, a mutual friend introduces Mexico to Arnoldo.

“It's funny because at the beginning, Arnoldo wouldn't believe that my name was Mexico,” Mexico said. “I had to show him my ID so he could believe me.”

But even proof of ID wasn’t enough for Arnoldo.

“I still really didn't believe him after that,” Arnoldo said. “I said, ‘That's a fake ID.’ I'd never heard the name ‘Mexico’ before, and I was like, ‘Okay…he's probably just playing with me right now.’”

Arnoldo is first-generation Mexican American, and while his family hails from an entirely different region of the country than where Mexico is from, the two students had both expressed interest in getting to know other Spanish-speaking students while at Harris. The next several months were shaped by that shared cultural interest. Mexico and Anroldo ended up often studying together with other Mexican international students, but for several months, they were nothing more than classmates—or so it seemed.

Mexico graduated in May of 2023, but the two still spend their days under the same roof–at the Keller Center, and at home.

Following their first encounter at the pub, Mexico said he wasn’t a “big fan” of Arnoldo.

“I didn't like him the first month of classes, but then I noticed that he started flirting with me,” Mexico said. “He kept saying that we had the same pair of glasses, but he never wore them. He used to wear only contact lenses.”

“I wasn't made aware that I had annoyed him early on,” Arnoldo said. “I was just like…he's a cool guy when you get to know him. And I would talk to him at the Keller Center. Had I gotten the impression that he thought I was annoying–that he didn't like me–I probably wouldn't have approached him as many times in the beginning.”

The flirting (recognized or not) went down primarily in their group study discussions, and Mexico said a lot of their friends thought the soon-to-be couple was on the same page about a mutual attraction.

“I guess neither of us were completely aware that we were consciously flirting until somebody pointed it out,” Mexico said. “One of my friends saw us studying together for one of the final exams, and she later told me, ‘Hey, am I third-wheeling here, or can I join you guys?’ And that's when it hit me. I was like, ‘Wow, maybe he's actually flirting, and I'm probably flirting back a little bit.’”

“I remember him saying that him being around me made him a little bit more productive,” Arnoldo said. “And that's why we kept studying together. That's why we became study buddies.”

And eventually, after a lot of deep and vulnerable conversations (both Arnoldo and Mexico are Pisces–enough said), they became more. There are two sides to every story, but all’s well that ends well–in life, love, and academia.

Mexico matriculated in May of 2023, but the two still spend their days under the same roof–at the Keller Center, and at home. Mexico is working with Professor Christopher Blattman to conduct research assessing what makes children in Colombia join gangs. Arnoldo is hard at work finishing his two year master’s program and busy applying for jobs.

While Mexico and Arnoldo are applying to programs and companies throughout the U.S., they’d ideally like to stay in Chicago, which feels like home.

When Arnoldo graduates from Harris in June, Mexico will be hearing back regarding his PhD applications. As individuals, they’re keeping their options open, with the hope to align on a city, and while they’re applying to programs and companies throughout the U.S., they’d ideally like to stay in Chicago, which feels like home. Arnoldo currently works part-time for the City of Chicago, and he’d love to transition to a full-time role after graduation. He’s also applying to different consulting roles.

The pair spend a lot of time in Pilsen, a Lower West Side neighborhood with a rich Latino heritage and culture.

“I've always had an affinity towards Pilsen,” Arnoldo said. “And then for Mexico, it's the…most authentic Mexican experience he can have in Chicago. It makes both of us happy just to be there, get groceries, usually eat food—Los Comales.”

Their favorite spot is a cafe called La Malinche, where they often sit from morning to evening, studying or working–and flirting, consciously now, of course.