Graphic by Natalie Kulak ’21
BY GRACE FITZGERALD ’20
We at MoRomance are working diligently to help MoHos find new love, or at least a new pal this Valentine’s season. This week we set up “cute but anxious” sophomore Frida* with junior Georgia,* who described themself as “funny but quiet.” The two seemed like a good match. Both said that they love art, so we thought an arts and crafts date in Mead’s Golden Pear would be perfect. The pair arrived to find the common room stocked up with origami paper, coloring pages and Shrinky Dinks for an afternoon of crafts and romance.
Frida: I signed up for MoRomance, pretty much for fun and I’m single anyway, so if anything came out of it, that would be a bonus. My friends and I all signed up.
Georgia: I guess I thought it would be fun to try to meet somebody. I was expecting a fun date, I thought that maybe I’d find love … but probably not.
Frida: I mentioned that I was going on a MoRomance date to my friends. Before the date, I was in the art studio, which is where I pretty much live now.
Georgia: I was feeling excited; before the date I was getting ready, having a late lunch, sort of loitering in Blanch for a while.
Frida: They got there a little bit before me. I am always late.
Georgia: I got there at 3:30 p.m., which is when it was scheduled. I got there first.
Frida: I’ve met them before, so my first impression was, “Oh, I’ve seen you,” like trying to connect them with where I had met them before. I think they used to date a friend of a friend!
Georgia: I thought she was nice. I didn’t really have a strong first impression. She seemed okay. She didn’t really seem to want to talk at all.
Frida: We made arts and crafts in the Mead common room which I was very excited about. I don’t know if they were super pumped or not. There were other craft supplies out but I was really focused on the Shrinky Dinks. I’m an art studio major!
Georgia: We looked at the crafts on the table and decided pretty quickly to do the Shrinky Dinks.
Frida: It was fairly awkward. We did mostly small talk, [with questions] like: “What’s your major? What year are you?” Stuff like that.
Georgia: We didn’t talk about much. I would ask her questions and it seemed like she was really not into keeping the conversation going. She talked about how she was in the Divs, but I honestly don’t remember what I talked about. I guess we talked about what we were drawing on the Shrinky Dinks.
Frida: My impression of them didn’t really change a ton. They’re a quiet person and I’m not good at starting conversations, so it was a little stagnant.
Georgia: I felt like she didn’t really like me that much. I wasn’t really sure if she wasn’t talking because she was just a shy person, or if she really wasn’t interested in talking to me. I guess she didn’t seem mean, but she didn’t seem that interested in getting to know me.
Frida: I was a little surprised that we were matched, but it makes enough sense. They do geology, we both do theater things, so that made a lot of sense.
Georgia: It was kind of awkward but we had something to do at least. I would say we didn’t really have that much in common, but I wasn’t surprised that I was matched with this person.
Frida: Watching the Shrinky Dinks in the oven was pretty exciting. See, I went and I did arts and crafts, and I know it was a date, but it felt like arts and crafts. We were both watching the Shrinky Dinks in the little oven window so that was particularly fun. We each did several designs, they did a lot of little gems and I made some feathers and some cactuses. Alas, we did not have scissors so they were all an irregular shape.
Georgia: Watching the Shrinky Dinks melt in the oven was fun. They curl up and you think they’re going to fold over, but they don’t, they just go right back. Just sitting there and drawing, not really talking, was kind of uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to say.
Frida: We walked out and were going in different directions anyway, so we sort of just said a polite, “See you around.”
Georgia: We put the Shrinky Dinks in the oven and that was close to the time the date was ending. We just said goodbye to each other and left.
Frida: It was kind of awkward but not the worst way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It didn’t feel as much like a date I would set myself up on but it wasn’t too bad.
Georgia: I was kind of confused about my impression of her. I guess there were other aspects to her personality that she didn’t really talk about.
Frida: It was fun. I think I would do it again to see who else is out there.
Georgia: I think it was a good experience, I’m glad I did it.
MoRomance is a student-run matchmaking service run by Flori Needle ’20, Gina Perry ’20, Grace Fitzgerald ’20 and Maya Rhode ’20. These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity. To sign up for MoRomance, visit mountholyokenews.com/moromance.
*Names have been changed for anonymity.