UoN love letters. You either love it or hate it. If you’re a University of Newcastle student, you’d know of it and (have probably) checked the page at least once with the hope of seeing your name being published by an anonymous admirer.
But the question lies: has anyone ever actually formed a relationship because of it?
As someone who may’ve checked the page once or twice… I’ve always pondered; “Has anyone ever seen their name be submitted and followed up to find the anonymous publisher?”
So, I went digging.
I was scrolling through Facebook, on a mundane Wednesday afternoon, scanning my feed posts that were of UoN love letter submissions and decided to request a submission of my own.
My post read: “Not a love letter but out of curiosity, has anyone ever found love from this page?”
To my surprise, I woke up the next morning to see it had been submitted by the admin and already had a few comments from fellow students. I ended up personally DM’ing those who commented, and received some cute answers with their consent to write this article.
Twenty-two-year-old Hannah, studies a Bachelor of Arts at UoN, and found some of her closest pals through the UoN love letter Facebook page. In August of 2021, she came across an anonymous post where the user asked if there were any other queer women who go to UoN and would like to join a group chat.
“There were a couple similar posts at the time, and I would love react them all. I did end up in a few different group chats but only one of them really took off,” Hannah typed back.
She told me the users would talk in it all the time – to the point where she could barely keep track of the messages, leading to her not replying very often.
“But one night, when I was online, a few of the girls asked if anyone wanted to be added to another, smaller chat, where they could discuss and send things more freely – mostly for privacy reasons,” Hannah’s message read.
10 queer women partook in the suggestion and have been the bestest of friends ever since.
“There isn’t a day that the chat isn’t spoken in, and a year has gone by and I’m so thankful that I was added [into the chat]. I couldn’t picture my life without them,” Hannah proclaimed in her final message.
Twenty-one-year-old Kendall also studies a Bachelor of Arts at UoN and decided to write a love letter on behalf of one of her friends after he went through a breakup. Their friendship was rounding up to three years and the pair agreed the love letter was ‘all in good spirits.’
“He wanted to get out there again but didn’t know how,” Kendall told me.
“He doesn’t have Facebook and I thought it would be funny to submit a post and ended up contacting a few people who were interested on his behalf.”
Kendall received a few phone numbers, exchanging them to her friend where no luck was found at the end of the tunnel. This ended up turning out for the best.
Kendall proclaimed in her message that the love letter written on her behalf, ended up aligning the pair closer, where they are now in a relationship!
“We’ve been together for one year now and the relationship is going so well,” she told me.
Parents adoration and approval: check.
Her little brother’s idol: check.
Smart: Check.
Can cook: Check.
Her dog’s nod of approval: Check, check check!
Kendall even mentioned in her replied message that this has been her first relationship where she has felt truly comfortable due to him celebrating, and helping her navigate her sexuality.
“I’m queer and have always preferred women – but this is the first relationship I’ve had where I’ve felt comfortable due to my partner’s support. He encouraged me to hang up my pride flag which is something past partners said was a big no,” Kendall sweetly proclaimed.
“He pushes me to do my best and I’ve never had someone be so supportive – it’s refreshing.”
Both stories had me teary and it made me realise that UoN love letters may actually hold a purpose – rather than being an entertainment source for a lot of students.
So, if you’ve ever wondered: “Has anyone ever formed a relationship of some kind due to UoN love letters?” The answer is yes!
Hi, I’m Rachel. I like reading, writing, but no so much arithmetics. I indulge in so much TV and media I thought ‘why not write on it?’
