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Lea Potter Daigle

Lea Potter Daigle

Assistant VP | Bank of America | Class of 2014

An Illini love story, Custard Cup edition ...

“I met my husband in a first-floor conference room in Engineering Hall late in the summer of 2011,” says Lea Potter Daigle (BA ’14, English language and literature/letters; MBA ’18).

Lea and Scott Daigle (BS ’09, MS ’11, both in mechanical engineering) “were in a group meeting to kick off a week of GAMES camp, an all-girls STEM camp put on by the College of Engineering,” she recalls. “Walking into the room, I was 19, and mostly just excited at the prospect of making more than minimum wage as a counselor.

“When we made eye contact over the ubiquitous Einstein Bagels catering, it was love at first sight for me. I called my mom afterwards and told her I had just met my future husband, which is a very bold thing to say about a stranger.

“It took a few weeks after camp ended for him to ask me out on our first date, a surprisingly non-awkward hour sitting at the picnic tables out front at Jarling’s Custard Cup.

"Him: grasshopper snowstorm; Me: lemon waffle cone.

“We celebrated one year of marriage and eight years of dating in 2019, and though we live in North Carolina now, we are always thankful that we have a combined four degrees from Illinois, and we love to wear our orange and blue with pride.”