Julian Eylia was a little ticked off that Stanislaus State hired someone named Juliana Melo in 2019 to work in the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office.
He’d worked in the University’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) since 2017 and enjoyed being the only Julian in the University directory.
“I was working at the OIT support desk at the time,” he said. “We got the list of a new hire named Juliana. I got upset, actually. I was the only Julian on the A-Z directory. If you typed ‘Ju,’ it was me, all the time. I got upset and said, ‘Whenever this person comes in for setup, I want to see this person.”
True to his word, he dashed to the counter when she arrived and introduced herself as Juliana and needed her computer set up.
“My setup took two hours,” Juliana said. “I’m sure I got the best service anyone has ever gotten on this campus. I got training about everything. Even Adobe Sign.”
For Julian Eylia, who graduated from Stan State in 2016 after attending Pitman High School, it was “pretty much” love at first sight. Any anger about sharing a similar name was gone.
The woman who came to Stanislaus State from Brazil in 2015 to study accounting took his breath away. He wanted to see more of her and made a daily stop in Financial Aid.
“I used to think that everyone on campus was that way, that they had an OIT person who came in every day to check on your computer,” Juliana said, laughing as she often does when sharing their story.
“Everyone who put in a ticket from Financial Aid, I took it so I could come and see her,” Julian said. “I was Financial Aid’s personal OIT. I would get M&M cookies for cashiers, for Financial Aid staff and for her.”
“I wouldn’t know they were for me,” Juliana said. “He’d just bring them for everyone. He’s that kind of person.”
What started in April 2019 bloomed on Valentine’s Day 2020 when Julian finally sent a message to Juliana asking, “Why do you think I come to Financial Aid every day? It’s because of you. Because ever since I met you, I can’t spend a day without coming to see you.”
After spelling it out for her, Julian took her on a date to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream. He also took her to a Sacramento Kings basketball game.
He introduced her to his Assyrian family and they “love her more than they love me,” he said.
His two sisters welcomed her as though they couldn’t wait to have another sister.
“It’s because they saw the genuine person she is, the love she has for everyone,” Julian said. “There’s no selfishness there.”
“He would talk about his grandma, and I always had such a strong connection with my grandma,’ Juliana said. “The way he treats elders and human beings, and I love how much he takes care of his grandma. I felt I already knew her before I met her.”
His 79-year-old grandma raised Julian and his siblings, especially while his father served as an interpreter in Iraq during the Gulf War. His father moved the family to Turlock in 2002 from San Jose, where he worked as a mechanical engineer. When he was laid off, he went to work as a linguist for the army in his native Iraq. He was gone during most of Julian’s high school and college years.
Julian’s studies suffered, but he attended Merced College and graduated from Stan State, following in his brother’s footsteps.
A year later, he began working at the University, and the road took him beyond his expectations.
It led him to a love he never knew.
“She was different from a lot of people,” he said. “She didn’t go out and party and do crazy things. She reminded me of myself — stay at home, be with family. She loved to study which I thought was crazy, but I loved that about her. She’s the smartest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Together, they each earned a Master of Business Administration.
As a student, Juliana worked in Housing & Residential Life and returned to that department in 2021 as an academic advisor, a position that required her to live on campus. By doing so, she and Julian saved money for a house. The position also reunited her with people who had been like family to her as a student.
The resident of Minas Gerais, a state next to Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, where her dad has a coffee farm, Juliana always knew she wanted to attend an American university although she knew no one here.
“I wanted to go abroad,” she said. “I wanted to travel and see the world when I finished high school. My parents supported me and helped me with applications and finding places. I applied to colleges in California, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida.
“Stan State was safe. A small town played a big role in it. My parents were looking at the small class sizes and faculty-to-student ratio. They were worried about me not knowing the language and how the support would be. The campus itself was so beautiful — the nature, the lakes, the rivers. I just saw it on the website. I couldn’t come here for a tour.”
She found just what she wanted academically, built a career in finance, is now working for the University Police Department, and also found the love of her life.
Julian proposed during a trip to New York, in Central Park, and they married in September 2023.
On Feb. 1, almost five years after Julian sent that first message of love, they welcomed Joshua Julian, a 7-pound, 4-ounce bundle of joy.
They celebrated with food from Jack in the Box, their go-to fast food place for every milestone event — engagement party, post-wedding and the birth of their son.
The couple hopes to have three more children to fill the five-bedroom house they bought in 2022, but for now, they are relishing having the first great-grandchild in Julian’s family. Juliana marvels at how quickly Julian took to being the father of an infant.
Joshua has intensified the love Julian and Juliana have for one another.
“He’s brought us more together,” Julian said. “I thought there was a limit, but it keeps growing and growing. We’re best friends. We love him to death, but Mom and Dad are first so he can grow up and see that, because I grew up the opposite” — the child of parents who separated when he was young.
“To see him as a dad is such an amazing experience,” Juliana said. “I thought you were already perfect, but then you add this to the mix.”
She didn’t need anyone to spell out for her how much he loves her and their son.
