Datamatch: Flyby's Shot at Love, Part 1

By Hyemi Park

We at Flyby are obsessed with a lot of things, from Clover’s brussels sprout sandwich, Raven, to football players who hold The Bachelor viewing parties, but if there’s one thing we’re in love with the most right now, it’s love itself– that is, in the form of a list of 11 people we should be compatible with through the help of the Harvard Computer Society. Yep, we’re totally obsessed with Datamatch and that’s why we’re sending our editors on Datamatch dates with their top matches. We’ll be blogging about the trials and tribulations of modern day love, blind date joys and woes, and what that 93.28% compatibility translates to in real life. And if you’re feeling some serious #fomo after reading about our dates, why don’t you just press the inviting “Waffle me” button and take a chance?

In our first date in the series, I went on a Zinneken’s date with my top match, Nick M. Sertl ‘18. We spent an hour talking over some free tea and a chocolate waffle, and here are some top reasons why I enjoyed my date and therefore you should ask your own top match to go on that waffle date.

1) Nick and I had many Harvard-centric similarities that obviously meant we were compatible, i.e. we both did switch-service FOP trips and we both have around 11 hours of class per week.
When Nick told me that he did FOP and then that he also went on a switch-service trip, I knew that the stars were aligned because we both spent our week before college trimming thorny bushes and creating trails, and so we were both one with nature. But then, when he told me that he has very little class-time this semester, 11 hours per week to be exact, and I counted up and had 11.5, I deduced that we basically have the same lifestyle. And to top it off, he also doesn’t like the Quad, Lamont, and Friday morning classes, so we’re #fated.

2) I got some free tea that lasted me through four refills for the response paper I had to write after my date.
After you bashfully tell the Zinneken’s employee that you’re here on a Datamatch date (they will smile at you the way your parents smiled at you when you went on your first date in middle school) and read them your code, they offer you a free waffle with toppings and also a drink for each person! Thanks to that, I got some green tea that kept me *zen* throughout the date and also caffeinated throughout the early hours of the night to reflect on my great date and finish my paper on Roman history (but mostly to finish my paper on Roman history).

Pics or it didn't happen, right? By Hyemi Park

3) My friends thought I was being super courageous asking my Datamatch to go on a date with me and I basked in the glory of that.
Tbh I used the excuse of journalism to conjure up the courage to go on this date, but I reaped the benefits of being brave amongst my friends nonetheless. My blockmates kept asking me how it went when they saw me afterwards, and some even thought of clicking that tempting “Waffle me” button themselves. To top it all off, some of my friends who unknowingly came to buy late-night smoothies at Zinneken’s saw me on my Datamatch date and probably thought I was super cool, fun, and bold (okay maybe not, but let’s pretend that’s what they thought).

4) Nick and I bonded over the fact that while we love Zinneken’s, we also just love microwavable Eggo’s and that is a solid enough reason to develop a blossoming friendship with occasional email correspondence.
Zinneken’s was great (s/o to them for having us!), but when Nick admitted that he also loved Eggo’s, I was relieved because I do too. That led to us realizing we actually had a lot in common, such as mishaps with raw vegan food, drunkenly losing your phone and then finding it again, and long family car-rides to the Niagara Falls (we both agreed that the Canadian side is 3920290x better). I’m going to assume that this means we are on our way to the start of a great new friendship, especially because at the end of our date, Nick agreed to be in email correspondence with me (and by that I mean I asked if it was okay for me to email him this article when I’m done and he said yes).

Buuut, enough about my rambling. Here’s the final verdict on our date (note: there was absolutely no semblance of persuading Nick into answering a certain way for this question that would present me in a more flattering light):
Me: The date was low-key, casual, and fun, so I’d be down for another one because we both have around 11 hours of class per week, can’t swim for our lives, and love microwavable Eggo’s so yeah.

Nick: Dates are good, but you know what I like better? Waffles. Preferably on top of waffles. So if waffles are involved, you can count me in. Data match, I might not have found love at first sight, but we had a lot in common and for that I thank you. By the way allergies to organic food are real.

But in all seriousness the date was great and it was nice to get to know Hyemi. It was way less awkward than I expected and I would definitely recommend the experience (and the waffles!) to everyone else.