She’s the team manager of the gymnastics team, and he’s part of Southern Utah University’s golf squad. When a Flippin’ Bird associates with a golfer, a lot of things can happen. Like a birthday kiss on the shoulder of the highway by a broken truck…
This is the love story of Maya Cullen and Trevor Smith.
Disclaimer: Names in the articles have been changed per request of the interviewee.
It all started in March when Cullen and Smith connected over lunch near the cafeteria. They had mutual friends, and they were eating at the dining hall’s outside tables.
“He was sitting outside one day at lunch, and as soon as I walked away from the table, he sent me a message,” Cullen explained. “I didn’t even know I had him on social media.”
As it turns out, food really does bring people together, or at least it sets the stage for some seriously bold moves.
The same day, they saw each other again while Cullen was planning a lesson for her fifth graders to draw robots out of shapes. He let her demo on him and that’s how it all started. Fun fact, he still has the drawing with him.
Their paths also crossed at a bonfire where Smith sat down next to Cullen and kept asking questions about her life.
“He was just blown away by stuff that I don’t find important about myself, but that was really sweet,” she said. “He sat right next to me on this tree stump for the whole night, and then that’s when we had our first kiss.”
On April 9, 2025, they went on their first official date. Their plan? Simple and sweet cheeseburgers from Hermie’s and stargazing at the Gap in Parowan.
“You can see all the stars, and he set up something in the bed of his truck just for us to sit and talk,” recalled Cullen. “We listened to music, danced and hit some golf balls into the nothingness. It was super fun.”
On the drive home, Smith’s truck started acting up, and they had to get out of the car every five minutes to let it cool down. As they kept pulling over midnight was approaching, and it was Smith’s birthday the next day.
“I was like, ‘Do you want a birthday kiss?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ So I gave him a kiss on his birthday on the side of the road at midnight,” Cullen confided.
What was supposed to be a 20-minute drive home turned into a 45-minute ordeal and they finally arrived in Cedar City around 1 a.m.
After that memorable first experience, four months passed by before making their relationship official. Cullen went home for the summer, and Smith was dealing with the fact that she kept turning him down. Then she came back to Cedar in late summer, and her friend, Maddie Hilton, organized a triple date.
“I was like, ‘Um, I guess,’ and then on the triple date, I was like, ‘You know what? I really do like him. And I should just get over it.’” Cullen confessed. “He showed me that he’s a really kind and caring person, he’s fun to be around and he would push me to be better.”
About a week or two later, on August 22, Smith asked her to be his girlfriend. She said yes, and they’ve been together ever since.
“I was recruited to be on the gymnastics team, and finding a boyfriend was the last thing ever on my mind,” Cullen admitted. “I just wanted to be a teacher and be a part of the gymnastics team. So no, I was not looking for love when I came here.”
Good thing Smith didn’t get the memo, right?
Author: Fanny Felixine
Editor: Brooklyn Beard
Photos by Adobe Stock
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