Graphic by Carrie Clowers '18
BY GRACE FITZGERALD ’20
It’s Valentine’s Day season and love is in the air! For this special edition of MoRomance, we set up junior Penelope* with senior Helen* on a romantic date to drink coffee, listen to live music and potentially fall in love. Penelope described herself as a bubbly person looking to have a spontaneous adventure with someone chill. Helen said that she was a dramatic and open-minded person looking for someone spontaneous and down to earth to go out with. The two seemed outgoing and shared a mutual love of adventure — not even cupid could have made a more perfect match! The pair arrived at Thirsty Mind on Saturday evening, and here’s what happened…
Penelope: I got there first, and I was worried that my date had flaked on me. I was thinking I would just use the gift card for myself. There was a really attractive live singer, and I was thinking “I’m just going to watch this beautiful girl sing and I’ll go on a date with myself.” That lasted for a good 15 minutes, then Helen came over and was like, “Are you by chance here for the MoRomance thing?”
Helen: For some reason two of my friends were also at Thirsty Mind — which was not planned — and I went over to them like, “I don’t know what to do!” But then I saw my date alone (she was also wearing yellow as our instructions said), so I sat down with her. We sort of knew each other already. It was kind of a fun surprise!
Penelope: It was a slightly awkward environment for a date, because there was live music playing and we didn’t want to be rude, but we talked anyway. It actually worked out well because we could get a little more invested in the music, and we didn’t have to talk the whole time which I think is good for a first date.
Helen: I was a little shy, but it wasn’t awkward or anything. Maybe it had to do with the fact that we’d met already. We had a nice chat, we agreed on a lot of things.
Penelope: We talked about our signs. She’s a Virgo and I’m a Leo. I have a lot of Virgos in my family, and I don’t know how I feel about Virgos, but you shouldn’t let that affect the date. It’s always fun talking about astrology!
Helen: There was this one guy who turned around to us and was like, “Can you speak less loud?” and then he left at some point, so that was funny. It was overall a nice time.
Penelope: The performer sang a song in French, which my date speaks, and then she sang a song in Spanish, which I kind of speak, by one of my favorite Mexican singers! I was like, “Aw, this is kind of cute!”
Helen: She had to go because she had something else to do. We walked back to campus together.
Penelope: When we were walking back to our dorms I didn’t know what to do at the end. I think in her country it’s customary to kiss each other on the cheeks but I didn’t know what to do because I’m an awkward American who’s not that affectionate.
Helen: We said that we would see each other around. We already had each other on Facebook, so we can always chat on messenger.
Penelope: I’ll probably reach out to her and ask her to get a meal at SuperBlanch. I’ve always thought she was really cool and wanted to get to know her better.
Helen: We’ll probably talk again sometime. I wouldn’t want anything to go further, without being rude, she’s just not my type. I was really glad that we got to know each other.
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.