By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing
The beats of Nelson and Tiffany Perez’s love story includes birthdays, beach volleyball, the promise of dessert, a breakup and a Bible.
But, more than anything, it revolves around the University of South Florida.
It is where they were educated, met one another and fell in love.
And it is where their twin daughters, Mikayla and Brianna, are now students.
Those connections are why they have been honored as the 2024 USF Family of the Year. The award is presented annually to a household who shows unwavering support for their USF Bull and demonstrates what it means to be a part of the USF family.
“USF is such a big part of our story,” said Nelson, vice president of trust services for the Clearwater-based Family Network on Disabilities. “Our family doesn’t exist without it.”
Of course, the Perez family also might not exist without AOL Instant Messenger. In a way, they are USF’s “You’ve Got Mail” Family.
For the uninitiated, and anyone under 40: AOL Instant Messenger was one of the earliest mainstream chat apps. And “You’ve Got Mail” was a popular 1998 romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks as competing bookstore owners who, using anonymous screen names, unknowingly fall in love while chatting over email and AOL Instant Messenger.
Tiffany and Nelson Perez as USF students.
The Perez’s love story goes like this:
Nelson was in his first year at USF and Tiffany her second when, in early 2001, a common friend introduced them to one another.
“I’d heard about him,” said Tiffany, who teaches at Clearwater’s Kids Corner Preschool. “But the first time I met him right outside the Cooper Hall Subway, I remember thinking that he didn’t look like a Nelson because Nelson sounded nerdy, and he was tall and handsome.”
For Nelson’s birthday in February of that year, friends gathered for games of beach volleyball at Reflections Apartments where he lived off campus.
“That’s when I remember really flirting with her,” Nelson said. “I really wanted to talk with her outside of a group setting, but someone was always around.”
This was before cellphones were a norm and when roommates shared landlines, so a phone call did not promise privacy either. But online chatting could. So, a few days after his birthday, when Nelson saw that Tiffany was logged on to AOL Instant Messenger too, he did not waste the opportunity.
“I just messaged her, ‘Hey, this is Nelson,” he said.
In “You’ve Got Mail,” Hanks’ character wooed Ryan’s with messages such as, “Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”
Nelson’s courting of Tiffany was not as poetic. He asked her out for a burger with the joking promise of a milkshake if it went well.
“Hey, it definitely went well,” he said with a laugh.
For their first date, with a single yellow rose in hand, Nelson met Tiffany in front of Holly Apartments where she resided. They went to the Chili’s on Fowler Avenue, but neither ordered a burger.
“I got a turkey sandwich because it was the cleanest option on the menu,” Nelson said. “I didn’t want to order anything that could make a mess, like wings or a burger.”
The Perez children have been attending USF football games since they were little.
There was no milkshake either, but more dates followed. A few weeks later, Nelson knew he wanted to marry Tiffany. But that feeling was not yet mutual.
“I was nursing a broken heart,” Tiffany said. “So, in May, I broke up with him and said we should just be friends.”
Nelson was not going to let love walk out of his life. He agreed to a break, but also promised to call on her birthday in July.
“We then went our separate ways for the summer” Tiffany said. “He went home to Seminole, and I went to my grandparents’ house in Dunedin.”
On her birthday, he called.
“I thought, ‘He really did?’” Tiffany said. “He then asked if he could come over and give me a present, which was a Bible with my name inscribed in it. He said he had been praying for us all summer.”
She agreed to another date. That led to dozens more. The following July, as they walked on an Indian Shores beach, Nelson dropped to one knee and proposed. They were married the next June.
“We have a wonderful life,” Nelson said. “We owe a lot to USF. We love USF.”
He and Tiffany passed down that love of USF to their three children, the twins and younger son Joshua, whom they raised in Palm Harbor.
“From a young age, I remember walking around campus, going to the bookstore, taking pictures,” Mikayla said.
Added Brianna, “I don’t remember a time when we didn’t know about USF.”
So, when the twins decided to pursue college degrees, USF was the obvious choice.
Mikayla is studying public relations and advertising and Brianna, management with a concentration in human resources. They are in their first year, but earned enough credits while in high school to enter as juniors.
Mikayla and Brianna Perez flank Danielle McDonald, USF's dean of students.
“USF was an amazing experience for Nelson and me,” Tiffany said. “Now, our girls are following in our footsteps. I hope their experiences are just as amazing.”