{"615132":{"#nid":"615132","#data":{"type":"news","title":"ISyE Undergrad and GT Cheerleader Wilson Harmond Pops the Question ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn May, Wilson Harmond knew that he was going to propose to his girlfriend, Dana Francisco, and he knew exactly when \u0026ndash; on November 17\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E during the football game against Virginia, when Georgia Tech Athletics celebrated Senior Day.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHarmond, a sixth-year undergraduate in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Francisco, a fifth-year chemical and bimolecular engineering student, are long-time cheerleaders for the Yellow Jackets. After their initial meeting, they didn\u0026rsquo;t really talk to each other again for two years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis was actually easier than you might think, because the Tech cheer team is surprisingly large \u0026ndash; almost 70 people strong. The team is broken up into three squads by level of skill \u0026ndash; Gold, White, and Navy \u0026ndash; and divide up cheering at the men\u0026rsquo;s and women\u0026rsquo;s basketball games. The entire team is present on football Saturdays.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEventually, though, Harmond and Francisco were reintroduced by mutual friends the weekend of Francisco\u0026rsquo;s birthday. They started talking about the books they were reading: Francisco was deep into Dostoyevsky\u0026rsquo;s \u003Cem\u003ECrime and Punishment\u003C\/em\u003E, and Harmond was rereading \u003Cem\u003EThe Meditations\u003C\/em\u003E by Marcus Aurelius for the sixth time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom there, \u0026ldquo;we would go to a coffee shop or hang out at home and sit and read next to each other,\u0026rdquo; Harmond said. \u0026ldquo;And then eventually we would end up talking about what we were reading. It was a different kind of dating than either of us had ever done.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt didn\u0026rsquo;t take long before the couple was discussing marriage, but Harmond wanted the actual proposal to be unexpected. Francisco, who had taken a break from cheerleading to focus on her studies, came back to the squad in 2018. That\u0026rsquo;s when Harmond decided to propose on Senior Day.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For Senior Day, all our families would be there,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;And because her last name starts with an \u0026lsquo;F\u0026rsquo; and mine starts with an \u0026lsquo;H\u0026rsquo; \u0026ndash; there\u0026rsquo;s no \u0026lsquo;G\u0026rsquo; between us \u0026ndash; I knew we would be standing right next to each during the presentation. I could make this work.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith a little coordination from the Athletic Department and Tech spirit coach Daniel Nester, as well as some help from his dad and from Buzz, Harmond pulled off the surprise. \u0026ldquo;Dana and I had been on the White squad, but for Senior Day, they put us on the Gold Squad. So we got to do some really fun, higher-level stunts that we had wanted to try for a while. That also put us in front of the student section in Bobby Dodd, and all our friends \u0026ndash; who knew the proposal was happening \u0026ndash; were in the stands right in front of us.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the Senior Day presentation, Buzz knelt down in front of Francisco, giving Harmond a few seconds to drop to one knee behind her and pull out the ring box. \u0026ldquo;She had written off the proposal even happening, because she thought I would do it before the game,\u0026rdquo; Harmond said, grinning. \u0026ldquo;So her reaction was awesome. It was really fun.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOf course Francisco said yes, and now the couple is planning their wedding for next November, depending \u0026ndash; as you would expect from a dedicated cheer couple \u0026ndash; on the Yellow Jackets\u0026rsquo; football schedule.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey\u0026rsquo;ve been together a little over a year, but Harmond knew three months in that he wanted to marry Francisco. \u0026ldquo;I knew she\u0026rsquo;s the one,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The one I want to take home to my mom, the one I want to show off to everyone. And now I get to do it forever.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHarmond proposed to his girlfriend, Dana Francisco, on Senior Day at the football game against Virginia. The couple are both GT cheerleaders.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Harmond proposed to his girlfriend, Dana Fransisco, on Senior Day at the football game against Virginia. The couple are both GT cheerleaders."}],"uid":"28766","created_gmt":"2018-12-07 16:43:55","changed_gmt":"2018-12-12 15:45:08","author":"Shelley Wunder-Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"615127":{"id":"615127","type":"image","title":"ISyE undergrad Wilson Harmond proposes to his girlfriend, Dana Francisco (ChBE), on Senior Day at the football game against Virginia. The couple are both Georgia Tech cheerleaders.","body":null,"created":"1544198827","gmt_created":"2018-12-07 16:07:07","changed":"1544198863","gmt_changed":"2018-12-07 16:07:43","alt":"ISyE undergrad Wilson Harmond proposes to his girlfriend, Dana Francisco (ChBe), on Senior Day at the football game against Virginia. The couple are both Georgia Tech cheerleaders.","file":{"fid":"234227","name":"Proposal Square.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal%20Square.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal%20Square.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":474270,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Proposal%20Square.jpg?itok=NZdU3unU"}},"615128":{"id":"615128","type":"image","title":"Harmond proposed to Francisco with a little help from Buzz.","body":null,"created":"1544199129","gmt_created":"2018-12-07 16:12:09","changed":"1544199129","gmt_changed":"2018-12-07 16:12:09","alt":"Harmond proposed to Francisco with a little help from Buzz.","file":{"fid":"234228","name":"Proposal 1.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal%201.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal%201.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":819749,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Proposal%201.JPG?itok=XDuAJl6x"}},"615129":{"id":"615129","type":"image","title":"The engagement ring","body":null,"created":"1544199183","gmt_created":"2018-12-07 16:13:03","changed":"1544199183","gmt_changed":"2018-12-07 16:13:03","alt":"The engagement ring","file":{"fid":"234229","name":"Proposal_Ring.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal_Ring.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Proposal_Ring.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":406027,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Proposal_Ring.JPG?itok=8uElOVa_"}}},"media_ids":["615127","615128","615129"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"179949","name":"Wilson Harmond"},{"id":"1625","name":"athletics"},{"id":"10352","name":"engagement"},{"id":"179950","name":"geo\\rgia tech cheerleading"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:swundersmith3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404.385.4745\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["swundersmith3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}