Zane and Juliana met on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and went to The Virginian
Zane: [I signed up for Love Connection because] I saw that one of the articles was trending on Facebook among my friends and I thought it was a funny idea and cool and quirky. I thought it would make for a good story to tell my friends.
Juliana: I was inspired and encouraged by a Cavalier Daily editor [to sign up], and I just went for it.
Zane: When I found out I was chosen, I was at first really happy, but then realized I was super busy that week and had to reschedule. I was super excited and laughed and thought, “Oh man, this is really happening!” I had never been on a blind date before — I really wasn’t expecting too much and was hoping to make a better friend rather than a romantic interest.
Juliana: I was so excited [to find out I was chosen]. I love trying new things. I hadn’t been on a blind date before, so I was expecting that it might be awkward, but it ended up being a lot of fun.
Zane: I was reading the description of the Rotunda restoration and then I turned back to see someone sitting on the bench. We introduced ourselves and decided to go to The Virginian. I thought that she was really outgoing and really, really funny.
Juliana: I was there five minutes early, which is very atypical — I tend to run very behind. There was a guy who was pacing back and forth by the Rotunda, I asked if it was him and he said yes. We shook hands and took it from there. I suggested [eating at] The Virginian outside because it was a lovely evening, and he was down. The weather was great.
Zane: The conversation was very tangent-based. We never really talked about one thing, and we always had a topic to chime in on. We went from topic to topic in a natural way — theatre, music, Council, mutual friends, career interests, childhood stories, etc. The conversation was very thoughtful, it wasn’t really a lot of small talk.
Juliana: The conversation was very balanced. Kudos to him because I have the tendency to nervously talk too much! We jumped from topic to topic … I would bring up friends’ stories and he knew everyone. Everyone who walked by The Virginian we seemed to know, [and] I was shocked that I hadn’t met him before because of all the people we knew.
Zane: We are both involved in Council, both liked a lot of the same music, both into theatre. She was really involved in theatre in high school. I sort of admire theatre as an art. We both had been to a ton of concerts. We both had a “formative English teacher” in our past that made us appreciate the subject. She had never seen “Dead Poet’s Society,” which is an English teacher classic.
Juliana: We each paid separately. I made it very clear that I wanted separate checks.
Zane: We split the check. [It was a] total friend vibe — [the] girl’s like my sister. I would totally hang out with her again — as a matter of fact she just followed me on Instagram.
Juliana: It was definitely a friend vibe. He’s wonderful, and I can’t wait to become better friends with him.
Zane: She went off to do work and I went off to the library.
Juliana: We hugged and parted ways. He had to get to a meeting. I could definitely see myself hanging out with him in the future with our vast array of mutual friends.
Zane: It was a 10. It was the highlight of my day by far.
Juliana: [It was a] 9.
Correction: A previous version of this article listed one of Zane's responses as "shorter than your average sexy man."
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