Sometimes students at Montgomery County Community College find more than just a good education. Sometimes they find love.

Two alumni recently returned to Blue Bell Campus this summer to have their engagement photos taken. Thair Hood and Jocelyn Smith said there was no place better to hold the photo shoot than the place where their relationship first began.

“It’s where we met,” said Hood. “It’s home for both of us.”

“We love it here,” said Smith.

The ‘Wrecking Ball’

It was the fall of 2018. Hood, 28 of North Philadelphia, and Smith, 27, of Ambler, both Liberal Studies majors, were selected to be among the first group of student ambassadors at the College. The couple met at the first training session.

Hood remembers being early for the session, while Smith showed up 10 minutes late.

“I just wanted an ice coffee,” she said laughing.

“From the moment she walked in, there was an aura about her that I couldn’t put my finger on,” said Hood. “I’m like ‘What is it about this person that’s attracting me to her?’”

While the two soon-to-be love birds chatted briefly, they wouldn’t see each other again until the following semester at another ambassador training session. It was there, Hood remembered talking to friends, when Smith walked into the room and took a seat in the back. Soon though, sparks between them would begin to fly.

“We acknowledged each other; we said hi. Then she did something bold, something completely out of the blue,” said Hood. “She got up and she sat right next to me and smiled in my face. That’s never happened to me before.”

The bold move certainly caught Hood’s attention, he said. Still the would-be couple would have to wait yet another month before seeing each other again. This time in College Hall.

“She had told me it was her birthday,” said Hood. “I was like ‘Happy Birthday! What did you do?’”

“I was like ‘I usually have a boyfriend to do stuff with on my birthday.’ That little hint, hint,” Smith said, giggling. “There’s nothing subtle about me. I came in like a wrecking ball.”

Hood finally took the bait and asked her out. Their first date was at an IHOP down the street. The date went well, but one particular moment stood out above the rest. When the check came, Smith started digging through her purse. Hood thought she was trying to pay.

“I thought ‘I’ve got the meal. I’ve got plenty of money on my credit cards. I’m good,’” he said. “‘I said ‘What are you looking for?’ She pulled out a 10 percent off coupon. I looked at her and I’m laughing. I’m like ‘OK, I’m keeping you around.’”

Growing as individuals

Originally from the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Smith, a single mother of a 10-year-old and 8-year-old, moved to Ambler in 2017. Before then, she taught kindergarten and seventh grade history in Cairo. Her mom lived and worked there as a teacher and helped her daughter land a job there too for two years.

“The people are amazing,” Smith said of Egyptians. “They’re super friendly. They’re super nice. They invite you to their home and bring out everything they have in the pantry. The kids are great.”

The sights are incredible as well, she said.

“The pyramids are actually on a highway,” she said. “And there’s a Pizza Hut next to them.”

In 2015, she flew home to New Jersey and began working as a waitress. She moved to the Ambler area to live with someone she was dating but the relationship fizzled. That’s when Smith suddenly found herself homeless for the next two years.

Valley Youth House in Ambler gave her the resources to get back on her feet, she said, by giving her a place to stay and helped her enroll at MCCC. After graduation, Smith found a job there as a housing stability coach.

Hood graduated high school in 2012 and enrolled in a local college for a year before dropping out, after feeling like he wasn’t getting the support he needed to be successful. For six years he worked in the family business but had dreams of becoming a sports talk radio host.

After touring Blue Bell Campus and falling in love with the radio station, Hood enrolled at the College and launched the “Montco Backstreet Sports” podcast, later rebranded to “The Philly Experience.” Learning the tools of the trade, he transferred to Temple University and landed an producing job at Sportsradio 94 WIP.

The proposal

Over time, their relationship continued to blossom. Hood helped Smith launch “The Afternoon Groove” on Montco Radio. The show is a mixture of talk, R&B and Hip Hop. That’s where Smith and Hood said they grew closer. Smith still hosts the show for the station and Hood produces.

Then three years after Smith pulled a coupon from her purse, Hood popped the question. They were on vacation in Richmond, Va. and having dinner at a place called “The Speakeasy.” The food comes to the table and Smith was absorbed playing Solitaire on her phone.

“I just wanted to finish the game,” she said, chuckling.

“I asked her, I said, ‘Jocelyn, do you love me?” said Hood. “She was like, ‘Yeah.’ All while still playing on the phone.”

He asked her again and she continued to agree, without looking up.

“At this point, the ring is in my hand,” he said. “She’s completely oblivious to it. She finally looks up and drops everything.”

Hood then got up from the table, in order to drop to one knee, and accidentally took the tablecloth with him, spilling food and drinks everywhere.

“I thought it was absolutely hilarious, so I busted out laughing but was also really excited,” said Smith. “When he said will you marry me, I said, ‘Yeah, obviously.’”

Setting the date

The couple plans to get married Sunday, Dec. 18 -- right in the middle of the Philadelphia Eagles’ season. It was a difficult compromise to reach.

Hood had hoped to say I do on a Friday. Smith really wanted to have the ceremony on a Sunday. They couldn’t do a Saturday because it’s the Sabbath in their faith, and that’s when they go to church.

“My big thing was, it’s football season,” said Hood. “At WIP, that’s a big deal. I was worried we would be messing things up for me professionally.”

Hood asked to wait until the Eagles schedule was released before they chose a date, so he could find a game he felt confident the team would win and then they could get married without making too many waves at work. On Dec. 18, the Eagles travel to Chicago to play the Bears. Hood said that was the game he thought would work best for everyone. Smith agreed.

“That was perfect,” she said. 

Coming home

With the date set, the couple is finishing up their wedding plans. There was only one place they wanted to go to have their photos taken. Coming back to Blue Bell Campus had them feeling nostalgic and grateful to have found each other.

“We both grew here as individuals and we found each other here,” said Hood, “so what better place to take photos than a place that you’ve embraced and that’s embraced you?”

“We’ve worked here. We’ve been students here. My kids have gone to daycare down the street,” said Smith. “We’ve done the radio. We know the faculty. We just love Montco.”