What's in a Name?

Ian Ramos

Ian Ramos- Norwegian (mother); Filipino (father); Ian is a friendly, gregarious, and charismatic young man whom Hannah Quigley encounters and develops romantic feelings for throughout her college years. Known for his extraverted nature and spontaneity, he is creative and soulful and has artistic inclinations, with a love of painting and writing music. A skilled guitarist and amateur singer-songwriter, he first meets Hannah Quigley when they are paired off to revise one another's writing in their freshman composition course at Syracuse University. He is the first person Hannah considers romantically after choosing to remain single for some time following an unplanned pregnancy in the 11th grade. Hannah, a self-described "art nerd", immediately takes a liking to Ian, despite her best friend Mia Vasquez-Rivera's jokingly claiming that he seemed to have the "typical hipster vibe". She quickly notes his strong writing skills, meanwhile Ian in turn instantly feels a strong connection with Hannah that he wants to further explore. Although she becomes infatuated by and develops an attraction toward Ian, he does not initially reciprocate her feelings for him. He approached Hannah by chance when she was sitting by herself at the local diner near campus, prompting him to sit across from her and try to get to know her through a series of questions. Ian genuinely appreciated Hannah for her gentle, sweet spirit, but claimed their bond felt more like a friendship, declaring she was more "like a sister" to him. Hurt and dejected by his words, she nonetheless tries to brush them off with optimism and agrees to pursue a friendship with him, leading them to continue to meet up at the same diner and share meaningful conversations with one another. Although he views Hannah in a platonic sense, her feelings for him continue to intensify as she learns that he was a member of a group called Business Professionals of America. 

Despite his initially being a Psychology and Communications double major after a semester of being undecided, his true passion lay in writing and composing music. As a multitalented individual, Ian also demonstrated a desire to teach on the side in his family's native Calgary while pursuing music. He was the son of Ingrid Heyerdahl, a Norwegian-American woman who works as a civil engineer while serving as the treasurer to Calgary's city council, and Manuel Ramos, a Filipino-Canadian man. His father earned his living as a pharmaceutical brand manager, yet he and his mother showed slight disapproval of their son's impractical career choices. They often considered them to be trivial and aimless, but were nonetheless supportive of his dreams and realized that despite his outgoing and extroverted personality, he was a highly perceptive person with a keen ability to read people. Upon noticing Hannah's obvious crush on him, Ian began distancing himself from her and responding to her texts laconically to prevent her from being led on and hurt. He claimed that their personalities and life goals tended to clash, with Hannah having a slightly quieter and more awkward personality and desire to stay close to home in Long Island. He aspired to have the freedom to spend time with his friends and spontaneity to travel and explore his own pursuits in the meantime. He similarly admits Hannah is not his usual type physically and that he has a romantic interest in another girl named Natalie Ureño, a public relations major. Ian described Natalie as a business-minded, yet creative soul and fan of Halloween, who was of Mexican and Scottish ancestry and shared his love of hiking, with creamy skin and long, silky black hair. He was also very religiously inclined and adhered strongly to the teachings of his family's Roman Catholic faith, disapproving slightly of Hannah's more liberal, agnostic attitudes. 

Deeply religious and spiritual, he was actively involved with the local Catholic Student Organization at his school, through which he has met most of his close friends. As a devout Catholic with strong opinions against underage pregnancy, Ian perceived Hannah's having suffered a miscarriage at 16 as a red flag that could potentially keep them apart, once he hurtfully suggested that Hannah was "not as innocent as he thought she was." These issues lead to the two having a series of misunderstandings and falling outs over text that pull them apart for some time, as Ian accepts a music internship in Vancouver, Canada that would allow him to tour with a local indie rock band. The two do not remain in contact for some time, as Hannah eventually graduates college and pursues her career as a graphic designer after moving in temporarily with her father to help pay her bills. The roles quickly reverse however as Ian suddenly begins missing Hannah and yearning for her presence, claiming to have had something of an epiphany that he and Hannah were meant to be together. Although initially hesitant to reconnect with her due to not knowing the best way to approach a new conversation with her, he eventually extends an olive branch to Hannah and offers to rekindle their bond. While Hannah keeps an initial distance from Ian and claims it was better they just remain acquaintances for the time being, she eventually warms up to him once again. Their texts gradually become long phone calls that extend until 3 am, leading them to fall in love in the process and plan to attend Oktoberfest together in Pennsylvania. He eventually breaks things off with Natalie and remains single for some time before deciding to move back to New York to be closer to Hannah. He later confesses his feelings for her and expresses a desire to initiate a romantic relationship after spending Christmas with an old classmate in El Paso.