This Valentine’s Day three Farmingdale State College (FSC) alumni couples look back on finding their special someone and share their favorite campus memories.  

Amanda Smith, '24, and Michael Beall, '23
Both from Kings Park, NY, Smith and Beall “actually met in high school and have been together ever since,” said Beall, who went on to study business management with a minor in economics at FSC and now works as a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services. Smith, who studied business management with a certificate in accounting, now works as an audit associate at PKF O’Connor Davies. The couple is also working towards multiple professional certifications. 

“We both found guidance on our career paths from our professors, especially Associate Professor Ellen Bartley, PhD, and Associate Professor Meeghan Rogers, PhD. And were helped tremendously to get to where we are now by Internship Coordinator Lisa Lubrano,” shared Beall, now a Farmingdale Alumni Association board member. “We enjoyed our time tremendously at FSC, especially in hindsight now that we are a couple of years removed.”

For their first date, Smith and Beall enjoyed “wandering around Northport Village,” and they are currently moving to Smithtown, NY, with their 18-year-old cat, Romeo. “We sadly lost Amanda’s cat, Lilly, last year, but she is special enough to still be named,” shared Beall. 

Now together for more than eight years, the couple recently got engaged this past summer and they are “looking forward to staying connected to the college,” said Beall.

Laura and David Berrell, Class of 1979
It was nearly 50 years ago when David Berrell of Hicksville, NY, first met fellow FSC (then the Agricultural and Technical College at Farmingdale) animal science student Laura Berrell of North Babylon, NY, “in Professor Stockbridge’s genetics class in Horton Hall,” he said. “It was about three weeks into our first semester,” added Laura Berrell. 

The two quickly became friends and began dating a year later. Their first date was a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, NY, “where my car broke down and Laura met my sister who had to rescue us,” shared David Berrell. Despite unexpected vehicle repairs, their love continued to grow and by 1979 they were engaged. 

The couple shares a beloved campus memory entering a prized bovine in a local cattle judging contest. “This was very much like the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for dairy cows,” Laura Berrell said of the competition. “All ‘ag’ students were assigned a dairy cow and we were responsible to maintain all their records and oversee their management, care, and training.” 

“I had a Holstein, Gloria, and Laura had an Ayrshire named Fleur, aka Spunky, who won second place,” said David Berrell.

“Leading up to the show, Dave was always there helping me with grooming her, walking her, teaching her how to stand and pose and walk when instructed to,” added Laura Berrell. “He was very instrumental in Fleur placing second in her class. I know I wouldn’t have accomplished what I did without Dave’s help and support.” 

Laura Berrell went on to study at West Virginia University and later retired from the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets. David Berrell, a retired operating engineer, held multiple positions around the region, including as an intern at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, as a manager for the Long Island Duck Farmers Cooperative, as an operating manager for a Farmingdale dairy farm, and as assistant chief operating engineer for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union 94 in New York City. 

The Berrells, who celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary last October, are happy to share their current titles: delighted parents and grandparents to adult children FSC Assistant Professor of Visual Communications Michael Berrell, ‘06, Ryan, and Ashley, and grandsons Ian, 18, Finn, 11, and Connor, 5. The couple, who have also owned many pets over the years, now resides in Brookhaven, NY, with their 11-year-old aquatic, red-eared slider turtle, Franklyn. 

“We are very proud to see Michael working at FSC,” David Berrell added of oldest son, Michael Berrell, who joined FSC’s faculty in 2023. “I always felt FSC provided the best training for students so that they could go on to have successful careers in their fields.” 

“For anyone contemplating attending FSC, I feel that the best decision I made was to attend Farmingdale. The education that I received far surpassed anything I could have received anywhere else,” agreed Laura Berrell. “I learned much more in my two years at FSC because of the hands-on teaching methods, along with the educators that truly cared about the quality of education that their students received. I am so proud that my son chose FSC for his studies and for his career as an educator.”

Jessica Zuniga, ’13, and Samuel Feliz, ‘16
Zuniga, from Bethpage, NY, was a business management major with a minor in sociology who is now transitioning from a career in international education at Stony Brook University into more flexible work to raise the couple’s three young children, Sammy, Jr., 5.5, Elaina, 3.5, and Celeste, 1.5. Feliz, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, was a global business major with a minor in economics who now works for Major League Baseball in international operations. The family lives in the Village of Farmingdale with their beloved dachshund, Ozzy.

“We love family picnics in the Robert F. Ench Teaching Gardens,” said Zuniga.

Together over 10 years, the couple “technically first met at the airport” said Zuniga, when Feliz arrived to study at FSC on an international scholarship and Zuniga, a student assistant in FSC’s Office of International Education & Programs, was tasked with greeting new students to accompany them back to campus. 

The pair later took business classes together and before long enjoyed their first date over slices at the nearby Bellagio Pizzeria. “We discovered that Jess’ uncle via marriage is a distant cousin of Samuel’s from the south of the Dominican Republic,” Zuniga shared of their deep family ties.

Zuniga and Feliz, who got engaged on Valentine's Day 2018 and were married 30 days later in the Dominican Republic, will celebrate eight years of marriage next month!

---