Windsor Law students know that staff and faculty at the law school are always here to help; even when that involves orchestrating an elaborate engagement proposal from across the country.
It was, therefore, no surprise that Career Services Coordinator, Anna DeCia Gualteri was delighted to help when Windsor Law alum and Vancouver based lawyer, Sameer Kamboj (‘14) reached out to her for help with his plans to propose to his law school sweetheart, Cynthia Lam (‘14).
Kamboj and Lam met on their first day of law school during orientation in 2011. After three years of studying together at Windsor Law, one year of long distance and two years of establishing their new lives as lawyers in British Columbia, Kamboj was ready to take the next step in their relationship.
When Kamboj began thinking about how and where he might want to propose, Windsor came to mind.
“Windsor is where we first met and where we've shared so many memories together,” recalls Kamboj. “It is a very sentimental place for both of us. When I thought about where I would propose, nowhere else made sense; nowhere else would be as fitting."
Together DeCia Gualteri and Kamboj devised a plan to get Lam to Windsor.
“We created a fake invitation to a mentoring event for students interested in pursuing law careers in the West Coast and sent it to Cynthia explaining that we had invited some of our alumni who were practicing out West to speak as mentors,” said DeCia Gualteri. “The best part was when I sent the invitation to Cynthia, she contacted me to ask if Sameer could come along!”
The “event” was scheduled to take place on the Thursday and Friday, just before the Thanksgiving long weekend. After months of planning, on October 5th, Kamboj and Lam made their way to Windsor for what was supposed to be the first Junior JD Outreach event at Windsor Law.
Kamboj convinced Lam to take a stroll by the river before they headed to the event. Little did she know, a photographer that Kamboj had hired was hiding in the distance, waiting to capture the picturesque moment of the proposal. As the sun started to set in the background, he got down on one knee to pop the question, and she happily said yes.
“After Sameer proposed and the photographer took our photos, my first thought was that we better hurry, we're going to be late to the event!" recalls Lam. “That was when he told me that there was no event - that the whole trip and "event" was a ruse. I
was definitely impressed at how elaborate his plan was.”
The two spent the weekend visiting some of their favourite spots from their time in law school, enjoying the city, and reminiscing on the memories where it all began.
With the engagement official and wedding plans underway, their friends all had the same question when they shared the exciting news: "How did he manage to fake an event?"
With help from Windsor Law, of course.
“I would literally show them the invitation letter that Anna had sent me and all of our email correspondences,” explained Lam. “Anna actually contributed a lot to the success of the whole thing! Her responses to my emails were so convincing."
Please join us in congratulating Sameer and Cynthia on their engagement.
Photo credit: Nicole Vallance Photography