After having first met while they were both 19-year-old undergraduate students at Boston University, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her now-fiancé Riley Roberts did not start dating until they were both in their 20s.

A number of years later, when the legislator was 32 years old, Roberts brought up the possibility of marriage when they were having a talk about their New Year’s goals in the latter part of 2021.

In an interview with GQ, Ocasio-Cortez remembered that Roberts, a web developer, shared with his long-term girlfriend his aim for 2022, which was “that maybe we might be involved by the end of the year.” Ocasio-Cortez had heard this ambition from Roberts.

“And with that, I said, “Oh, really? You’re going to have to work hard to win me over. After all this time, you’re going to have to show me why it’s in my best interest to,’ “She discusses her tenure in Congress as well as her plans for the future of her career in politics in a comprehensive feature.

She revealed to GQ that part of the reason for her hesitance was due to the almost unfathomable amount of change that had occurred in both of their lives since they had first met in college.

Anyone who is fortunate enough to reach their 30s is likely to undergo a significant amount of maturation. However, the woman who is now known as AOC is, as the author of GQ points out, “arguably more famous than any other person in American politics without the last name Obama or Trump.” She is also “beloved and loathed at competing ends of the political spectrum.”

“I think it has been a very eye-opening experience for him as well,” Ocasio-Cortez says of her boyfriend. “For him to experience us dating when I was still working as a waitress and bartender through now and seeing how the world responds [to me], I think has been a very eye-opening experience for him as well.”

According to GQ, AOC had further reservations about being in a multicultural and multiracial marriage, as well as how a possible husband would fare alongside a spouse with her level of devotion and success.

“The minute you start being yourself, they kind of freak out,” she says of men who only believe they can manage life next to an independent, accomplished woman with the enormous potential of someone like AOC. “The moment you start being yourself, they kind of freak out.” “I believe that it leads to a battle inside them that they were not really prepared for, to begin with. It is not even an attempt to mislead. Simply put, people become aware of fears inside themselves that they were previously unaware of.”

Ocasio-Cortez came to the realization that Roberts was not the type of person whose self-doubt grows in proportion to his partner’s fame and good fortune after Ocasio-Cortez pulled off a now-famous political upset in 2018 and began serving in Congress in a political spotlight far more intense than many would have imagined. Since then, Ocasio-Cortez has served in Congress in a political spotlight far more intense than many would have imagined.

“In point of fact, the complete opposite took place,” she said. “He has been really encouraging and eager, in addition to being highly engaged. It is not true that he saw this happen. In the sense that he views the challenges we face as possibilities for his own development, he throws himself headfirst into the conflict. And this is just remarkable.”

As a result, the pair decided to be engaged in April when they were on a vacation to Puerto Rico to visit her family’s birthplace. Before beginning to plan a wedding, she said that they were “taking some distance to relish this moment” at the time she made the statement.

She added Roberts to a list of men who have earned her admiration, respect, and love, including her father Sergio Ocasio (who passed away from cancer in 2008), the cousins she grew up with in the South Bronx, and her chief of staff, Gerardo Bonilla Chavez. “I feel like I won the men’s lottery in my life,” AOC told GQ. Roberts joined the list of men who have earned her admiration, respect, and love.

AOC remarked, “The presence of excellent guys has shown me what type of men are possible in our world.” She was referring to the men who were in her life.