Johnny, Fourth-year biology major
University involvement: Student Council, University Guide Service
Ideal date activity: For first dates I enjoy going out to dinner. It’s hard to beat good conversation over a bottle of wine and some great food.
If you could date any celebrity, it would be: Emma Watson
Deal breakers: Bad breath, bad sense of humor, lack of ambition, stuck-up, over 6’4”, under 4’8”
Describe a typical weekend: I typically go out with friends at night on Friday and Saturday. During the day I enjoy playing tennis, going Downtown, and running errands (that sounds really lame). Of course, Sunday is a homework day.
Hobbies: Tennis, YouTubing, eating large amounts of food
If your dating life was a primetime or reality show, it would be: NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
Have you ever streaked the Lawn: Oh yes
Describe yourself in one sentence: Big friendly giant
Annie, Third-year architecture major
University involvement: Model Chair for Fashion, Art, and Musical Expression, IM Inner tube Water Polo player
Ideal date: Dinner and small adventure
If you could date any celebrity, it would be: Jake Gyllenhaal
Deal breakers: Shorter than me; cocky or rude jokes
Describe a typical weekend: Go out one or two nights a week, do homework all Sunday, bake with friends and go on small adventures
Hobbies: Drawing, sports that are fun and not too competitive, photography
If your dating life was a primetime or reality show, it would be: The Bachelorette; they go on bonding dates doing fun stuff rather than just boring dinners and awkward conversations.
Have you ever streaked the Lawn? Yes, twice.
Describe yourself in one sentence: I’m an outgoing, mellow girl who never takes things too seriously.
The date: Saturday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m. at Michael’s Bistro
Johnny: I applied for Love Connection because I think it’s one of the things on the list of 113 things to do before you graduate. It just seemed like a fun fourth-year thing to do. I was actually surprisingly nervous since I’ve never been on a blind date. I enjoy going on dates; dates are great — but I’ve never been on one with someone I didn’t know. Honestly, I was just praying that the conversation would flow and that there wouldn’t be awkward pauses. I absolutely hate pauses.
Annie: A long time ago, a friend and I just decided to fill out the Love Connection survey and see what happens. I had kind of forgotten about it, so I was excited when I found out I was actually going. But then I started getting nervous right after I said yes. I told my friends about it and they were all like, “Oh my god, you’re so brave, I couldn’t do that. It seems so scary!”
Johnny: We were meeting at the north side of the Rotunda and it’s pretty big, so I was nervous I wouldn’t find her. I was also worried because I was so tired that day after the football game and [had not gotten] a lot of sleep the night before. I was just exhausted and didn’t know if I was going to have the energy to keep an engaging conversation going. But then I got there right at 7:30 and when she got there two minutes after, we immediately found each other. She seemed excited to be there, which was a plus.
Annie: When I walked up to the Rotunda there were people walking by, but he was the only one hanging around, so I called to him and was like, “Hey, are you Johnny?” We introduced ourselves and started walking toward the Corner. He’s really tall, which was definitely awesome. I think he was my type.
Johnny: I thought she was cute. The positive energy she gave off was nice. I don’t like to think I have a type, but I think she definitely fulfilled what I do look for in a girl. She made me feel comfortable off the bat which is always a good thing. She had a friendly, bubbly personality which I liked. Before the date, I had sort of decided that I wanted to go to Michael’s. I wanted somewhere on the Corner for a quick escape in case the date was an absolute disaster — strategic planning.
Annie: We were walking to the Corner and he suggested we go to Michael’s, so we headed there. I’ve been to Michael’s before and I didn’t like it so when he suggested it I wasn’t like, “Yeah, perfect!” I got something different than what I’ve had before and I liked it so that was good though. It turned out he’s friends with my roommate who’s in the Guide Service as well, and he’s been to my apartment before. Stuff like that — how we’ve been around each other and never met — made it easier to talk since we had mutual friends and things in common.
Johnny: Dinner was good. The conversation was really, really easy which was great, and I started to get an idea of who she was. We talked about the A-school; I’ve never really talked to anyone in-depth about what being there is like — I’ve only heard horror stories about the workload. We talked about everything under the sun — career aspirations, and how she’s from California, which is cool.
Annie: The conversation pretty much stayed at where we’re from, what we want to do after we graduate, where I’m living next year and his house, our families, etc. Everything just flowed; it wasn’t like an interview. We talked about how dating is going to be like this when we’re older — you’re going to go on dates with someone a friend has recommended for you or you’ve possibly seen before but never talked to. We also talked about reading past Love Connections and the funny scenarios people have been through.
Johnny: I didn’t have to pull out the “What’s your favorite type of music?” card or anything awkward like that. We talked about whatever came to us. Probably the first half of the date was more “get to know who you are” and after that it became less informational and more natural. I told her I’m involved with Student Council and then she asked what my position was, so I said president and she acted really surprised. Going into a blind date, I would ideally like my date not to know anything about me so it was nice that I could explain what my role was.
Annie: In the back of my head, I was like, “Wait, this is the president of our school.” I pretended not to know he was Johnny Vroom. He’s kind of a celebrity at U.Va., but I was just like, “Oh, I’ve never heard of you before,” trying to play it cool.
Johnny: We were at dinner for 90 minutes, but it didn’t feel like that, which was good. The waitress kept coming back and asking if we were ready to order or for the check, but then we would be like, “No sorry, we forgot,” which is a great sign. There were probably some flirtatious undertones, but I wasn’t trying to overtly flirt with her and be creepy the first time we met.
Annie: I don’t know about flirting. I think it was just more like witty banter, joking back and forth. We were both in it just to meet someone new; neither of us was taking anything too seriously. After dinner, he walked me back to my apartment and we hugged goodbye. He pulled out his phone and I thought he was going to ask for my number, but then he was like, “Can I add you on Facebook?” and he added me right there while we were still standing next to each other.
Johnny: As I was walking away, I was like, “That was really stupid of me.” Since I was an idiot and didn’t get her number, we haven’t talked since the date. I’ll shoot her a message and hopefully we’ll be able to work something out. I’d absolutely hang out with her again. We were talking about how we miss going to O’Hill so I told her I’d take her there, but that’s admittedly kind of lame so hopefully we can do something else too.
Annie: At the end of the date, I was like, “What are we going to rate each other? Can we just iron it out now?” He said no, that we have to leave it a surprise. I’d give it an 8.5. I had a really good time.
Johnny: Yeah, I told her that deciding the ratings ahead of time would be no fun. I would probably give it between an 8 and a 9. I had a lot of fun, maybe if we had chosen a more interesting restaurant or had some stuff lined up afterwards it would’ve been in the 10 range. It was pretty stellar in terms of conversation.
Update: Johnny and Annie have run into each other since the date, but no O’Hill Sunday
sundaes for these two yet.
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