Was love in the air at the Hub on Saturday, January 30? Well, maybe not love, but there was definitely a lot of laughter. When students were asked if Speed Dating participants had experienced the thrills of new love, the response was unanimous: “No.”
However, all felt that it was a fun opportunity for something new to do on a Saturday night in Orange City.
As you may guess, given Northwestern’s gender ratio, there were more women than men in attendance. The males sat at tables while the female participants were herded past these tables at one minute intervals. All dorms were represented by a least one individual, but some had a higher representation than others. The community of NW came together to see and be seen, generally act ridiculous, and play up the affectionately acknowledged reputation of Northwestern as a college that includes the “Senior Scramble”, “Ring By Spring”, and “MRS Degree” mentalities.
Freshman Melissa Hassman, a resident of Stegenga Hall, enjoyed her experience. She and a friend “double speed dated,” meaning that they walked the room as a pair and shared each male date. They were not the only pair of girls to do so, as it was more comfortable and funnier to reminisce about later. Hassman reported that she and her friend prepared goofy questions and generally had an entertaining evening. She appreciated the atmosphere created by Fern RD Lisa Barber, the MC, who provided questions and challenges for the couples, including a Sudoku race.
Junior Greta Floding of Fern Hall also prepared questions, most of which were random, ridiculously specific and designed to provoke silly and creative answers. Floding asked most of her dates this question, among others: “If you were a mythological creature, what would you be?” Answers included hippogriff, God of War, phoenix and dog.
While male participants did not, in general, prepare cutesy questions to ask their dates, one-liners were highly prevalent and worked to great effect. Sophomore John Hellinga of West Hall even prepared a resume to hand out during the process, including a picture, “in order to expedite the process,” said Hellinga.
Although Northwestern students may not have found their true love at Speed Dating, it was a fun opportunity to meet new people and a unique weekend event. Whether this will incite an influx of valentines via campus mail and dates at the cafeteria remains to be seen.