The two blind daters, Jackie Gabela and Nick Fabiani, used to be neighbors – a convenient icebreaker. But their previous close quarters did not bring a love connection. The sophomores got along fine, but the only lasting part of this date seems to be the leftovers.
Name: Jackie Gabela
Year: Sophomore
Age: 19
Hometown: Green Brook, N.J.
Major: Spanish
Name: Nick Fabiani
Year: Sophomore
Age: 19
Hometown: Cheshire, Conn.
Major: Political Communication
What is your ideal first date?
JACKIE: I guess we would do dinner and get to know each other. It would be a little more romantic than the one we went on. It would have to include good conversations.
NICK: It’s funny; I don’t really give it much thought. I guess as long as I’m with someone I’m interested in, the date would be ideal.
What do you look for in a person?
JACKIE: Someone who is personable, funny and cute – it’s definitely a plus. Someone I can talk to. I would take a good personality over attractiveness.
NICK: I like someone who can hold an intelligent conversation and can still goof around. That is most important to me, but attractiveness is important too. If you ask my friends they would probably say I have a “type,” but I don’t think I do.
What are your own interests?
JACKIE: I am kind of a GW tool. I am in a sorority, play club volleyball and just signed up to be a tour guide. I also lead Experience DC.
NICK: I’m really into politics. I’m a Democrat. If I weren’t so busy I would join GW political organizations. I’m also a ballroom dancer.
Jackie says:
You hear all these blind date stories and I expected it be a disaster. It wasn’t a disaster at all.
I agreed to go on the date because my sorority sister did one of these things too and she ended up dating the guy for a while. I did not really have the same expectations for this date. I just wanted to meet someone new, and when the opportunity came up, I was like, “Why not? It could be fun.”
We went to Nooshi and the date lasted a little over an hour. He was already there when I arrived and he got up and shook my hand. Overall, the date went pretty well. There were no real awkward moments except when we first met each other. The conversations went smoothly and we even found out we lived in the same dorm last year and share mutual friends.
There was no “love connection” per se but I wasn’t disappointed. I don’t think we’ll go on another date but we will see each other around. He’s not really my type, but I wasn’t disappointed.
I would give this date an A-.
Nick says…
There are very few things I won’t try at least once. When my roommate asked me if I wanted to go on a blind date I was like “Why not?” What’s the worst that could happen? I really had no expectations.
I arrived at Nooshi early. It was pretty crowded. She came in a few minutes later, and I definitely recognized her when I got up to shake her hand. She lived on the floor below me my freshman year in Lafayette. It made things a lot less awkward.
We really kept up the conversation. There were no awkward pauses or anything. We talked about our majors and where we live now. We found out we had a lot more things in common when she told me she interned at “30 Rock”; I love that show. All the while, they kept bringing us a ton of food.
I would give the date an A-. I really enjoyed it and had fun; I also have a lot of leftover food for lunch tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll go on another date. We’ll probably just see each other around.
