They met freshman year, at the beginning of 2010, in Kevin Dougherty’s sociology class. Dougherty referred to his classroom as “the neighborhood” and would have the students switch seats for the first few weeks so that they could get to know each other, Lauren Lara (’13) explained.
“And so then I met Carlos. And the rest is history. Once we met that freshman spring semester, we became fast friends,” Lauren said.
They sat next to each other every day in class, worked on a class project together and attended social functions as one another’s date.
One of her favorite memories with Carlos was the sociology class project they had been assigned.
“We’ve been friends for maybe like a month and it was the breaking social norms project. So you’re supposed to do things that made people uncomfortable and document their reactions. So we chose to do it together and we went out in the lawn in front of Collins and we’re like dancing in the grass out there and blasting music … just dancing and trying to get people walking by to join us and dance with us. It was just bizarre and really funny. We spent that whole time laughing and watching everyone think we were crazy,” Lauren said.
In 2013, Carlos proposed.
“We had just started grad school and it was actually right before my birthday. He took me out to Diamondbacks and said it was a birthday dinner and all that. And I kind of thought it was coming, so I had a suspicion. But he didn’t ask me at dinner or anything. I thought, ‘Well, ok, I guess not.’ And then [on the way home], we were driving through campus and he stopped by Founder’s Mall and was like, ‘Let’s go for a walk.’ He walked me around Founder’s Mall and we just talked for a little bit and then he stopped in front of Pat Nef over by the time capsule and asked me to marry him,” Lauren said.
They married the week after she graduated with her masters degree.
“So we graduated one Saturday and we got married the next weekend,” Lauren said.
Lauren’s parents, Doug and Diane Williams, also met at Baylor.
“They started dating in the beginning of 1982. That was their senior year and they got married that year in December and have been married now for 38 years,” Lauren said.
Carlos and Lauren now have two children — a two-year-old boy named Charlie and a three-week-old boy named Parker.
“We come back to campus a lot. We bring Charlie back and we’re excited to bring Parker back,” Lauren said. “We usually do end up walking around that area – around Old Main and Founder’s Mall. It’s really fun to watch Charlie run around and experience Baylor from his perspective as a little two-year-old, but then have all of our memories.”
