February 14, 2019 | UHCL Staff
Neither Paul Bauer nor Christina DeGray were particularly interested in each other when they met as small children growing up in Friendswood. But they began dating in high school and went to separate universities. Bauer enrolled at University of Houston-Clear Lake, and DeGray began her studies elsewhere. When she transferred to UH-Clear Lake, they were able to see each other much more often. Now engaged, they credit her transfer to UHCL as one of the main reasons their relationship solidified.
Bauer and DeGray, both 22, remember disliking each other when they were small. “Her brother was my best friend, and I thought of her as his annoying big sister,” Bauer said.
“We were just enemies when we were little,” DeGray recalled. “We didn’t get along at all.”
But during their last year in high school, Bauer said he had already gotten interested in her, and she was about to return to Africa to spend the summer doing community development and afterschool programs in Zambia and South Africa. “She was going through some hard times and I felt like she needed me and she shouldn’t be alone, so I talked to her dad,” Bauer said. “He said she might want to stay in Africa because she was pretty dedicated to teaching there. He told me to wait and see.”
DeGray did go to Africa, but she returned. “I decided in Africa that I was done with boys and I wanted to be a single mother and adopt children,” she said. “But I also knew that I needed more training so I came back, went to San Jacinto College for a year, then to Sam Houston State University. I came back home to be near my brother, and that is what put me near Paul.”
Bauer was already enrolled at UHCL and asked her to transfer to UHCL. “She wasn’t sure where she should go, but I pushed her to come here,” he said.
Together on campus, they were able to study, have lunch and go to the theater much more often. “I had to do a lot of professional development activities for my classes, and Paul just always liked to come along,” she said. “We also met up in the atrium a lot.”
After three years of dating, Bauer and DeGray went to their favorite coffee shop in Galveston last August. Bauer presented her with a small wooden box filled—at first glance—with coffee beans. “She likes coffee, and it was near her birthday, so she thought it was a birthday gift,” he said. “I had put the ring inside the little box and got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.”
“I said yes right away,” she said.
Bauer is a sophomore working on his bachelor’s in computer science. He is a full-time employee of AtLink Communications Inc. in Clear Lake. DeGray will complete her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with Core Subjects Early Childhood-6 with English as a Second Language Supplemental in fall 2019.
The pair plans to be married on June 1 in Friendswood. DeGray’s father, who is the pastor of Trinity Fellowship Church, will perform the ceremony.
