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Sex & Relationships

Eleanor and Bryan

Eleanor Katz

Year: Second

School: College of Arts and Sciences

Major: Spanish and Foreign Affairs

Hometown: Bethesda, MD

Sexual Orientation: Straight

UVa Involvement and Activities: Madison House’s Migrant and Latino Aid, Jewish Leadership Council, Chi Omega’s Philanthropy (Make-A-Wish Foundation)

Hobbies: I love to ski, cook, read and watch Spanish telenovelas

Ideal Date Person (Physical Attributes and Personality): Tall, dark hair and eyes. Absolutely hilarious, fun, free-thinking

Ideal Date (Activity): Dinner sitting outside, people watching, good food and great conversation.

Ideal Celebrity: Ryan Gosling’s swagger and looks plus Javier Bardem’s Spanish accent.

Deal Breaker: Smoking

Describe a typical weekend: Running errands, working out, a lil’ homework and going out with pals

Brag about yourself – what makes you a good catch? I’m spunky, smart, and can carry a conversation with almost anyone.

Describe yourself in one sentence: I’m a tall, funny girl who rambles in Spanish and wants to travel the world.

 

Bryan Graney

Year: Second

School: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Major: Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Sexual Orientation: Straight

UVa Involvement and Activities: Cavalier Marching Band, Residence Life

Hobbies: Golf, Aviation, Music, Biking

Ideal Date Person (Physical Attributes and Personality): Fun, Smart, Medium Height

Ideal Date (Activity): Dinner and walk around grounds

Ideal Celebrity: Emma Watson

Deal Breaker: Texting during the date

Describe a typical weekend: Hanging out with friends, going to a sporting event and catching up on work.

Brag about yourself – what makes you a good catch? I like to meet new people.

Describe yourself in one sentence: Fun, smart, confident guy.

 

Date: Saturday, Feb. 4

Time: 5 p.m.

Place: Basil

Eleanor: I filled out the Love Connection survey because one of my roommates, Meghan, suggested I do it. She typed it for me and I passively was like, “Yeah, whatever.” Even if it’s a joke, it’ll make a great story. I’d never been on a blind date, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I grab dinner with my guy friends sometimes, so I figured it’d be just like chatting with one of my buds. Plus, free food!

Bryan: I filled out the survey because some people who live in my dorm encouraged me to sign up. I thought it was one of those cool U.Va. traditions you have to do before you graduate. Plus it’s free food, and you get to meet people. I’d never been on a blind date and didn’t have any expectations. I just went into it with a chill attitude, as if I was just meeting someone new.

Eleanor: Before the date, I was talking to my roommates and threw out that my date’s name was Bryan. We all laughed because my friend Meghan said the only Bryan she knew at U.Va. was her ex-boyfriend, and she pulled up a picture of him. When I was walking up and saw that it was that Bryan, I started to laugh to myself.

Bryan: I was standing outside of Starbucks when she approached me and asked if I was Bryan. I said, “You must be Eleanor, it’s nice to meet you.” It was obvious that we were looking for each other. She seemed easy to talk to, and it seemed like we have sort of similar personalities.

Eleanor: He seemed very friendly and gracious and kind, but the whole premise of the fact that he’s my roommate’s ex-boyfriend made it a little weird. I was thinking about how I was going to approach [the fact that I live with his ex-girlfriend]; I wanted to craft it in a way so that he wouldn’t feel awkward.

Bryan: The conversation was flowing the whole time. First we talked about where to go for dinner; I said she could decide because I can be indecisive. She suggested Basil, and I was all for it. Eventually we got to talking about our year, major, her sorority, Res Life, marching band, her trip to Israel over winter break and studying abroad. I thought it was cool because she has a completely different major. She’s more into the artsy stuff and I’m an engineer, but we could relate to each other’s stories even though we didn’t have activities in common.

Eleanor: We have very different academic interests, and I was curious to hear more about his major, which is mechanical and aerospace engineering. I was actually able to talk about it a little because it’s the same thing Meghan does and I’ve heard about it from her. The conversation was balanced; he was really sweet about asking me about my background. I’m a big talker, so my friends had told not to talk too much.

Bryan: The conversation was pretty 50/50. She was a really good conversationalist, and I didn’t notice she was talking a lot. It was definitely more of a friend thing, though.

Eleanor: There was just a little awkwardness stemming from the fact that I knew so much about him from Meghan and was trying to weave it into what we were talking about. I tried to bring up the fact that I’m best friends with Meghan by asking him where he was from. When he told me where he went to high school, that’s when I brought it up.

Bryan: I told her that Meghan and I had gone to high school together, and I was just like, “Okay, that’s weird,” but I continued as if it was a regular date. Let’s just say it was a weird coincidence. She had to meet up with her sorority for boys’ bid night, so I walked her over to GrandMarc. We hugged, and then I left.

Eleanor: He was very nice about walking me to GrandMarc and making sure I got in. There might’ve been a hug, but it was more like, “Hey, nice meeting you.” I’d definitely say hi if I saw him around. He was really nice to have gotten to know.

Bryan: As a blind date, I’d give it an 8. The conversation flowed from beginning to end, and she was easy to talk to. I think the blind date concept is interesting, and I’d go on another one.

Eleanor: I’d give it a 6 only because I felt like I knew a lot about him before having met him. That made me feel a little uncomfortable, but it’s not any fault of his own. He was very nice and easy to get to know. Since this wasn’t really a blind date, I’d love to go on one again. I’d definitely do it again and hope that he wasn’t one of my roommate’s ex-boyfriends from high school.

Eleanor and Bryan are now Facebook friends and both looking forward to their next blind dates – although they probably won’t let us set them up again.

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