With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, students across campus made one last attempt to solidify plans for the special holiday. Last Wednesday night, over 200 students crammed into the Multipurpose Room at Colleges Nine and Ten in search of that special person – they were there to attend a speed-dating session. Although the signs across campus advertising the event merited snickering and laughter from some students, the event proved to be more of a success than students could have imagined.
With a line wrapping around the Multipurpose Room and stretching beyond the Dining Hall, daters eagerly waited in the rain for their turn to enter. Organized by College Nine and Ten Community Advisors (CAs) and International Living Center International Peer Advisers, the event also sold Valentine’s gifts, with proceeds supporting the College Nine/Ten Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans.
“We didn’t expect the turnout of 200, so we kicked out 50,” Nina Meller, third year College Ten CA said. “We added double tables, as
originally planned; we couldn’t have hoped for better.”
Students were given three minutes with each “date,” and then rotated alongside the many U-shaped tables that were spread throughout
the room. Sprinkled across the tables were helpful dating hints, such as suggested questions to ask. The questions become repetitive, and given the amount of chattering one room, it was difficult to hear what your potential date was saying.
“It was awkward,” said San Soben, a third-year College Ten student. “I felt like I was screaming at everyone because the atmosphere was too loud. The atmosphere also made it insincere.”
Each dater was given a name tag with a number on it, and a piece of paper on which to keep track of any speed-daters they were interested in. CAs planned on matching up any overlapping numbers and getting in contact with daters, in time for Valentine’s Day.
Samuel Halim, a first-year College Nine student , thought the night was a success, since he found a potential date for the Winter Formal dance that Colleges Nine and Ten are hosting in two weeks. “I look for someone that’s friendly and is as interested in me as I am in them,” said Halim.
As the event was more of a success than the CAs expected, they plan on hosting another one in the near future; hopefully with accommodations for more daters. The event serves as a convenient place to raise funds for college-sponsored events, so people can date for a good cause.
“I would definitely do it again,” said Cara Samuelsen, a first-year College Eight student. “There were a lot of nice people I didn’t have a chance to meet.”
