Journalism and romance make an interesting combination, especially when it comes to dating as a college student during “the best four years of your life.”
However, there is one couple that stands out at San Diego State University who have one thing in common: The Daily Aztec.
Alex Piscatelli, former engagement editor for The Daily Aztec, graduated in 2018. Little did she know she would cross paths with Jack Molmud, a former editor for The Daily Aztec Live show, in the least expected way one year later.
“After Alex left in Spring 2018, I transferred out of community college to San Diego State that fall. So she and I never worked together, we never went to school together,” Molmud said.
In spring 2019, everything changed for Piscatelli and Molmud.
“Will Fritz (the former editor-in-chief), was having the end-of-the-year party at his house… so I came with a couple of other alumni,” Piscatelli said.
“Because of everyone working together at The Daily Aztec, past and present, you sort of connect with other people in different school years. So me and Jack had each other on Twitter (now known as X) and I had seen him before, and I went to the party and I saw him and was like, ‘Wait, he’s cute, I think I will try to talk to him at this party.’”
Molmud had a different motive, walking into the end-of-the-year party as a transfer student.
“From my POV, it was my first year at SDSU, and for any transfer student out there, you know you only have two or three years to get it all done,” Molmud said. “Will Fritz and I slowly built that rapport and he was my editor, so I went to his house for the party.”
Piscatelli — who was determined to talk to Molmud at the party — ended up asking him for a story for her dating podcast at the time called “Dating or at Least Trying,” now called “The Relationship Type.”
“Even just as a person, in general not just for the podcast, but I like to ask questions, I like to be like… ‘So how’s your love life, let me hear about it,’” Piscatelli said. “He told his story and I was like… ‘He’s kind of weird.”
Despite her initial thoughts, throughout the summer of 2019, they would interact and be active with each other and their content on social media.
Piscatelli was living in Los Angeles and enjoyed going on dates to meet new people. When she moved back home to San Diego in August of 2019, she realized that the dating pool was smaller than in LA.
“I was going on different dates in August (for) when I first moved. I should mention, too, that I say I am psychic because I have had dreams that have come true before, so whenever something happens in a dream, it’s like a very vivid dream,” she said. “I kind of trust it in a way… so I had a dream about him at the beginning of September, , (and) me and him were in love. I was like, ‘That’s weird.’”
Piscatelli then posted about her dream on Sept. 4, 2019, saying, “I’ve been considering sliding into someone’s DMs bc I had a dream that we were in love. How do I approach this situation?”
“I had tweeted that, and then I waited a couple of days and a few people were like, ‘Oh slide into his DMs,’ and they would say cheesy pickup lines, which is so not me. I don’t do pickup lines and stuff like that,” Piscatelli said. “I ended up sending him the tweet and said, ‘This is about you.’”
Molmud replied 10 minutes later.
“I saw the tweet, and I kind of had a gut feeling that it was kind of about me. I don’t know, I felt the energy. So when Alex DM’d that to me I actually felt flattered by it. I was like ‘Oh, perfect,’” he said.
Molmud replied to the message with, “I am down for a date as long as I can go on your podcast for a blatant review.”
It then became a first date at Toronado San Diego.
“Like I had mentioned, I went on a lot of dates, I loved dating. It was just very fun for me, like I didn’t really get particularly nervous anymore because I had gone on them a lot, but I was so nervous for the date with him. I have no idea why,” Piscatelli said.
For the second date, they did a review on the podcast and talked about their first-date experience.
“We literally went on two or three dates (and) then became boyfriend and girlfriend,” Molmud said. “A few dates were over the course of a couple months — you were working three jobs, I was going to school and working two jobs — so yeah it was quite busy.”
Piscatelli and Molmud are career-driven in media while supporting each other’s professional endeavors, which has helped them to maintain and cultivate their relationship from the start of their relationship in 2019 to this day in 2024 as a married couple.
“I think it is just over communication of what you are doing and what you really want to do and being straight up with the other person,” Molmud said. “I think it takes two people who are very understanding and supportive of each other’s careers.”
December 2019 was the month that confirmed many things for Piscatelli and Molmud in their relationship.
“I remember we were just driving down the 280 in the Bay area and that moment I remember we were like, ‘Wait, let’s spend the rest of our lives together.’ That was the first moment we verbalized that and it felt really right. I feel like a lot of our relationship has been moments of ‘what feels right in the moment,’’ Piscaletelli said.
Three years later Piscatelli and Molmud sealed the deal at 26 and got married in Portland, Maine, and The Daily Aztec crew witnessed it all.
“My whole life, I did not think I was going to get married that young, it just happened,” Piscatelli said. “It truly was just vibes.”
As a journalist, when it comes to dating, the couple believes that the skills they developed in their careers, go hand-in-hand with the use of the same skills in their dating life.
“ The skills you learn as a journalist and working in the media are so good for dating. You are inquisitive, you have an open mind and heart, you want to learn about the people around you and I feel like letting that guide you in your dating life is so important,” Piscatelli said.
Piscatelli and Molmud’s love story is one of a kind where they found each other when they least expected it and, for many who are in The Daily Aztec, their story is one for the books.
“It is kind of interesting to say that we found love at The Daily Aztec without even doing The Daily Aztec together,” Molmud said. “I guess that really speaks to the community that The Daily Aztec has.”
