Students Race to Find a Valentine
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With Valentine's Day coming up tomorrow, most Harvardians are feeling the pressure to celebrate in some special way. Some are taking every opportunity to secure a valentine this year—including the now banal method of speed dating.
On Friday night, The Harvard Independent hosted "The Indy 500: A Speed Dating Event" in Ticknor Lounge. As speed dating's popularity has continued to spike, many individuals found themselves "racing" to grab a spot at this event.
On Friday night, The Harvard Independent hosted "The Indy 500: A Speed Dating Event" in Ticknor Lounge. As speed dating's popularity has continued to spike, many individuals found themselves "racing" to grab a spot at this event.
Out of the 100 people that signed up to participate, only 70 received the “Congratulations. You’re In.” e-mail that allowed them access. (Fortunately, we made the cut.) The extra 30 (all girls) were banished to the waitlist. But only 20 of the 35 accepted males decided to show up, delaying the event's start by nearly an hour.
“The guys are flaky tonight,” said Indy Co-President Patricia E. Florescu ’11. Florescu, along with other event organizers, started desperately calling guy friends to come make up for the imbalance.
When it was finally underway, the event showed the guys to be more choosy than the girls. The all-too-visible preference cards of the males had far fewer names written on them than those of the females, and some guys said they intended to make a final decision only after speaking to everyone.
“I will be picky, for sure,” said Matthias C. Wickenburg ’13. Similarly, Lester C. Kim ’11 referred to love as a “serious game, and there are winners and there are losers.”
On the other hand, some of the girls were in a mood that better matched the ambiance created by the sensual music selection and rose petal-covered tables. Hideko Tachibana '13 says she was looking "to find true love" at this event. Another girl confessed to creating premeditated pick up lines such as “Hi, my name’s ---, you don’t have to awkwardly read it off my chest or anything.”
In the end, while some matches reunited for additional conversation, many just attacked the ample display of Finale's desserts and departed for additional Friday night merriment.