Putting the "I" in KSS
Couple meets in Sig Series classes
There is no "I" in KSS, the acronym for Bellevue University's Kirkpatrick Signature Series.
But Robert Baldi and the former Danielle Jinings might have snuck one in a time or two back when they were taking the classes in late 2000 and early 2001. The couple first met during their Signature Series classes.
"I am a pretty forward person. I saw Danielle in the hallway and found her attractive before I knew she was in my class. After coming back from grabbing a drink and walking into the assigned classroom, she was sitting in the back of the room where I promptly went to sit beside her and I introduced myself," Robert said.
Despite the early ice breaker, it took three weeks before Robert would ask Danielle out. Even then it took a bit of a push from Danielle's friend and classmate, Alex Castaneda.
"When I would ask the instructor, Tom Myers, when class would get out, Alex would ask, 'What, do you have a hot date to get to?' I would reply in the negative but did not think anything of it," Robert explained. "Finally after three weeks of me not getting any of the hints, Alex and Danielle invited me to Village Inn to grab a bite to eat. Danielle and I were inseparable from that point forward."
As fate would have it, the last day of class fell on Valentine's Day. While Alex and Danielle went for coffee during a break, Robert clued in Professor Myers and the rest of his classmates that he had something special planned.
"Tom always ended the evening by asking, 'does anyone have any questions before I dismiss you'?" Robert said. "Over the quarter I had gained the reputation as 'the guy who keeps us here' by asking at least two questions about the subject matter discussed. After hearing Danielle and Alex sighing, knowing they would not be leaving anytime soon, I launched into my proposal question.
"Danielle realized after ten seconds that I was addressing her. She went totally red. After the shock wore off, she did answer yes."
On November 23, 2002, Danielle and Robert were married at South Side Assemblies of God Church in Omaha following with a reception at the Offutt AFB Officers Club. They honeymooned the next week in Durango, CO.
Robert and Danielle have three children Ava (8), Sawyer (5) and Hannah (4). The family adopted Hannah from Ethiopia in 2009, when she was two.
Danielle earned her Bachelor of Science in E-Business in 2003. She teaches Classical Conversations, a home school based class that meets once per week.
Robert is a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force Reserves. He works as a lead associate for Booz Allen Hamilton at the United States Strategic Command on the Cyber Training Initiative contract, leading the way in educating the Department of Defense on methodologies for training the new cyber-based career fields, with an emphasis on network defense/exploitation. He also teaches as an adjunct professor in Bellevue University's Master of Science in Cybersecurity program. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Information Systems in 2002 and completed his MBA in 2003.
Robert will be teaching CIS 340/540 Business Telecommunications on Wednesday evenings in the spring term.
