Right place, right time: KHP Cadet Academy brings together Kansas couple

12 April 2023

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – “You never know who you’re going to meet.” That saying turned out to be true for two Kansas teens.

The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) hosts an annual summer camp for high school juniors called the Cadet Law Enforcement Academy.


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In 2019, Amanda Trowbridge heard about the academy.

“I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ I was like, ‘No, I’m not going,'” she recalled.

Today, she’s thankful she changed her mind because that’s where she met her best friend.

“They were like, ‘Who wants to do that?’ And so I saw across the room, his hand popped up, and I’m like, ‘Uhhh, I’ll do it,'” Trowbridge said.

That guy was Evan Johanning. The two met doing flag detail.

Courtesy: Kansas Highway PatrolCourtesy: Kansas Highway PatrolCourtesy: Kansas Highway PatrolCourtesy: Kansas Highway PatrolCourtesy: Kansas Highway PatrolCourtesy: Kansas Highway Patrol

“Every day, we would usually sit by each other. So it just kind of went on from there,” Johnanning said.

Strategic thinking on Trowbridge’s part.

“I counted out, like per table, who would be at every table, and then I would move around in the back to make sure that we sat at the same table,” she explained.

“She ended up getting my Snapchat ’cause, for some reason, I was just oblivious to everything that was going on,” Johanning said.

The two kept in touch after graduating from the program.


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“I ended up enlisting in the Marine Corps a year after. So I left right after high school because of the pandemic and everything that happened. I left a little bit early,” he said.

From basic training to deployments in Germany and the Philippines. Amanda stayed in his corner.

“I told all my friends when the time is ready, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna marry Evan.’ I just knew,” she said.

Fast forward to November 2022, Johanning got down on one knee.

“She was always that rock for me,” Johanning said.

Courtesy: Amanda TrowbridgeCourtesy: Amanda TrowbridgeCourtesy: Amanda TrowbridgeCourtesy: Amanda TrowbridgeCourtesy: Amanda TrowbridgeCourtesy: Amanda Trowbridge

The couple ready to enter a new chapter. All thanks to being in the same place at the right time nearly 4 years ago.

Their wedding is set for June 2. The day that the KHP Cadet Law Academy started the year they met.

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