by Amy Brown
Rebecca and Bryce Bergman, 2010 graduates of Providence University College, met and fell in love while students. Now married for almost seven years—and the parents of two children—they have chosen to share their romantic story that began on campus.
Amy Brown: When and how did you two meet?
Rebecca Bergman: In September 2007,we met at a dessert social for freshmen at a professor’s home during our first week at Providence. Our memories are a little fuzzy on the details, but we didn’t strike up a friendship until much later in the year.
Bryce was a shy soccer player from Morden, beginning his studies in education, and I was a social butterfly from BC starting my social science degree. My need to build friendships often led to me playing hours of foosball. One day we found ourselves playing against each other when a mutual friend (shout-out Cody Buhler!) asked me to join their mixed curling team. I jumped at the chance to try something new!
Hanging out in a group allowed Bryce to open up and we soon became friends. This friendship lasted through the summer of 2008 despite the distance between us. We returned to Prov in the fall to begin our second year of studies and it quickly became apparent that there was more to our relationship. We started dating by the end of September after many evening walks, meals eaten together in the cafeteria, and time spent together at all of the community-building events at Prov in those first few weeks.
AB: What was your first date like?
RB: Our first date off campus was in Winnipeg. Bryce treated me to a dinner at Mongo’s Grill and a movie. The best part of the date was finally having time away from the pressures of homework, and being able to focus on each other. We connected over our shared values and love for God, and we both determined early on that we could be each other’s forever partner.
AB: When did you become engaged and when were you married?
RB: We got engaged in October 2010. We had both graduated in the spring with our three-year Bachelor’s degrees and had spent the summer in BC so he could get to know my family (and vice versa). In September,he started his first year at the University of Manitoba to continue working towards his teaching degree and I moved in with a friend in Winnipeg to work and be close to him.
We still had friends attending Prov, and we would visit often. One evening, after watching a Prov soccer game, he invited me to go for a walk “for old times’ sake.” Naturally, our walk led us down the legendary “bridal path,” and we found ourselves in the exact spot where he had expressed that he was falling in love in the early stages of our relationship. He got down on one knee, and I said yes! We were married the following summer on July 2, 2011.
AB: Where have you seen God present in your marriage?
RB: God has been at the centre of our relationship from the beginning. He has guided our every step, and when we look back over the years it is so obvious to us how He has always been faithful. He provided us with places to live, jobs at the perfect times when we needed them, encouragement through our friends and family and more love, joy and peace than what we ever thought possible.
AB: How are you keeping busy these days?
RB: We now live in Roland, MB. God has blessed us with two beautiful children: Raelynn (2.5 years) and Ezra (2 months). Bryce works as an elementary school teacher in Winkler, and I love being a stay at home mom.
We are active in our home church, Morden EMMC, and I volunteer at YFC Morden with a teen moms group. Neither of us expected that we would find ourselves here, 10 years after our first curling game in Otterburne! Prov will always hold a special place in our hearts as being the place that brought us together, and that gave us the foundation upon which our lives have been built.
Amy Brown is Coordinator of Alumni Relations at Providence.
