So far, Michal Mojzis’ father is batting 1,000 when it comes to dispensing reliable advice about dating and relationships.

A physician in Slovakia, Dusan Mojzis told his son, a Yavapai College and Roughrider Soccer alumnus, to sit next to a girl in class. Michal did just that, arriving about five minutes late and plunking down next to Alyssa San Agustin on the first day of YC College Honors in August 2022.

A shy sophomore from Prescott, Alyssa recalls being very nervous that first day of honors class and, not knowing what else to say to the stranger, asked Michal if he was nervous. “I told him not to be nervous because I was,” Alyssa said. “I think he just laughed.”

Another piece of fatherly advice Michal heeded: “You have to find a person for yourself when you’re young, because if you wait, the good ones are going to be taken already. I guess he was right,” said Michal who, 2 ½ years after that fateful seating choice, married Alyssa – the classmate who became his soulmate – at the Prescott Courthouse.  

Rewind to fall 2022 at YC: Michal and Alyssa hit it off, getting to know each other in class and during outside-of-class assignments and volunteer gigs. “I didn’t know anyone so I was always deliberately picking the same activity as Alyssa,” said Michal. “We became friends. I liked her, but I thought she had a boyfriend, so I was keeping my distance. Then I found out she didn’t have one.”

Within a few weeks of their serendipitous introduction, Michal and Alyssa were spending time alone together, hiking, dining or driving around Prescott in  Alyssa’s car. At the end of October, with soccer season wrapped up, Michael presented Alyssa with a bouquet of flowers in his dorm room and asked her to be his girlfriend.

“Nobody had ever gotten me flowers,” Alyssa said, recalling the gesture, the fact that she “probably started crying” and her answer -- a definitive yes. “I thought he was cute,” she said. “I liked him from the day we met.”

For the rest of their respective sophomore years at YC, Alyssa and Michal were practically inseparable. Each graduated with a transfer degree, celebrated together at spring Commencement in May 2023, then joined YC Honors Director Denise Woolsey and the rest of their cohort on a class trip to Boston.

Soon after returning from across the country, they left the country, traveling to Slovakia to spend time with Michal’s family and enjoy a 10-week tour of multiple European countries. Along the way, the couple aced their compatibility test. “After that trip, I knew she was the one,” Michal said.

They aced their next test -- separation as university students – too.

After graduating from YC, Michal transferred to Carroll College in Helena, Mont., on a soccer scholarship. Alyssa transferred to the University of Arizona.

Being apart is hard, Alyssa acknowledged. “But we always make it work. We count the days until we get to see each other again.”  She and Michal also talk daily, manage to see each other two or three times a semester plus holidays, breaks and summers.

The couple’s long-distance relationship proved unbreakable with trust and abiding love. “I know he is the one, I just know. There’s no one else for me,” Alyssa said. Although Michal instinctively knew, being so far away much of the time, that someone would vie for Alyssa’s attention, “I was never scared that she would like them more than me,” he said.

The question “what do you love about each other” elicited lengthy, substantive and unabashedly romantic responses from Michal and Alyssa.

“I became a more empathetic and loving person than I was before her. She loves people with all of her heart, and it’s the most amazing feeling to be on the receiving end of it,” Michal said. He added that Alyssa, who he sometimes calls “lienka,” Slovik for ladybug, is as stunning to engage in conversation as she is to look at. “Looking at her after a long day always makes me smile, and I often find myself wondering how it is possible that I get to spend my life with someone as gorgeous as her.”

Alyssa’s response to the query opened with, “What is there not to love about Michal?” She went on to describe him as “caring, patient and kind to me and others.” Along with loving Michal’s smile, confidence, intelligence, and passion for his interests and goals, Alyssa said her husband “lights up a room and is the most fun person to talk to. When I am with him, I feel loved and warm, and he gives the best hugs.”

Last summer, after Alyssa finished a research project, she and Michal returned to Slovakia. It was there, outside a medieval castle overlooking his hometown of Bratislava, that Michal asked Alyssa to marry him. “It was a surprise. I cried a lot,” Alyssa said. “I fell on the ground, too.”

In Michal’s mind, there wasn’t going to be a better time or place to propose. “It has to be me, or someone else is going to come in soon. So it has to be now,” he said, explaining the thinking behind his decision last spring to propose.  “At that point I knew surely we will stay together forever.”

The same thought process preceded the couple’s decision to marry sooner than later. They tied the knot on Jan. 10 with just a few close family members and friends on hand. Large celebrations are in the works in Arizona and Slovakia this summer.     

Meanwhile, the newlyweds plan to spend spring break together studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Both will graduate this spring with biology degrees, both are applying to medical school, and both aspire to become pediatricians.

Michal and Alyssa appreciate the random nature of their union -- in a Yavapai College class each nearly opted out of. Michal was steered to the honors program by his soccer coach. Alyssa was coaxed by friends already in the program. Neither would have been devastated by a rejection.

The invitation to join was a boon, however, not least for bringing them together. “Honors really helped me become more social,” Alyssa said. “I feel like I had so many opportunities. I made a lot of friendships there.”

For Michal, the YC honors program was the highlight of his college academic journey. “It was a very special experience. I loved it. It was the best class I’ve had over all four years of college. And (Honors Director) Denise was the most amazing person.”

Denise was among those the couple reached out to share news of their marriage. “It warms my heart to see two incredible people, both achievers and scholars, together,” she said. “Their relationship brings so much joy and connection to our college and the Honors community. It really shows how these programs can change lives and that meaningful relationships can blossom in the most unexpected places.” 

For information about the newly expanded YC Honors program and to apply, visit yc.edu/honors.

Yavapai College operates six campuses and centers throughout Yavapai County and offers more than 100 degrees and certificates, two baccalaureate degrees, student and community services, and cultural events and activities.

To learn more about YC, visit www.yc.edu