He takes a deep breath as he faces the realization of wanting to spend the rest of his life with his best friend. The stress of the days leading up to the proposal. The unnerving yet calm sensation fills him when he finally gets down on one knee and asks the question, “Will you marry me?” The relief that overcomes him when he hears “yes.”

On Dec. 29, science teacher Nicolas Bautista proposed to AP English Composition teacher Alexandra Kim in his backyard. 

“[The proposal] would be private enough to where we could enjoy the moment together,” Mr. Bautista said. “As I got to know [Ms. Kim] throughout the time we spent together, she is shy so that ruled out the idea of doing it at a sports event.”

Ms. Kim and Mr. Bautista’s relationship started as coworkers who met on the last day of school in 2022 to finish grades. Ms. Kim, who held more experience as a student teacher, showed Mr. Bautista around the school and figured out how everything worked together. They built a friendship and eventually the relationship formed.

“We met and became best friends as time goes on, and we have just been so close,” Ms. Kim said. “And you go from being best friends and knowing everything about someone, being super close to somebody, and it just developed into a relationship and that’s how we got here.”

They complement each other well. Ms. Kim values every moment together, and admires his ability to lighten her mood and comfort her through low times.

“Mr. Bautista is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met, and my favorite thing about him is his patience,” Ms. Kim said. “I can get very high-strung about things, and no one’s ever been able to call me out on it and calm me down and talk things through with me. All of the qualities that make him my best friend, was a no-brainer to me that I was going to marry him.”

The decision to propose arrived unexpectedly. It’s not a matter of how long it took, instead it’s the feeling he got when he decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

“Early that day, he had asked me if I wanted to join him for a nice dinner to celebrate the fact that we both were feeling better after having the flu,” Ms. Kim said. “I had my suspicions that it could be for a proposal, but I did not want to get my hopes up. Thankfully, I was right.” 

The couple remains in the early stages of planning their wedding, only a venue and date has been chosen. Ms. Kim stares at her round-cut diamond ring that Mr. Baustista meticulously chose for her which has her eager for the big day.

“It was kind of a thought that always popped into my head every now and then,” Mr. Bautista said. “But as time went on, the holiday season and being around each other and our families for birthdays or Thanksgiving I kind of just didn’t see any other way of things going than us getting married eventually, so I knew I was ready at that point when I started thinking to myself about marriage.”