The Charmer and the Dating Game, Part 1

1/12/2016 The Charmer 2 Comments

Reading the submission from our last featured guest poster made me reminisce about MY first date at BYU! The story was too good not to share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
the charmer

I was thrilled to go to college. I practically counted down the days of my senior year, looking forward to everything about BYU. Freedom, all-you-can-eat Cannon Center food, dances, football games, and most importantly....BOYS.

To say I was excited to date at BYU would be a gross understatement. I'm pretty sure the prospect of dating countless handsome and spiritual young men was the primary motivator that drew me to BYU and not to some other university. I had visions of getting hit on in the line at the CougarEat and kissing a rugged man at the top of Y Mountain. I imagined late night "study sessions" in the library and falling in love to the sound of the Young Ambassadors. I think it's safe to say that the sparse options in my hometown had left me a little bit boy-crazy.

In fact, I was so excited to date and keep track of all my dates that I prepared an "ABC Dating Journal" to document my adventures. I made the goal to date a boy whose name started with each letter of the alphabet. I mean, where else would I run into Gideons and Uriahs and Helamans? Probably only at the Lord's University, right?

My first couple days at BYU were a flurry of boxes, anxiety, and teary-eyed parents hugging me before handing me off to my freshman orientation counselor. The orientation tour is one fuzzy memory of free Creamery ice cream, lots of glass buildings, two orientation counselors getting engaged, and my now-best-friend The Roommate popping excitedly into my face and introducing herself. But most importantly, I remember walking around campus wide-eyed at the endless array of attractive, clean-cut young men. This place was heaven! Thus, you can imagine my excitement when we found ourselves headed to the freshman orientation party at the end of the week. Our first party as college students! With so many attractive boys to talk to! Omg. 

The party was set up in the WSC and had everything a typical BYU party is known for: a capella performances, watery lemonade, hundreds of crunchy sugar cookies, and a dance party featuring the latest in hip (yet clean) music. Oh, and there was one other thing: The Dating Game.

My small group of new-found friends and I wandered into the auditorium just in time to catch a group of boys competing onstage for the affection of a blonde bachelorette. She was sitting off to the side of the stage and was separated by a curtain so that none of the contestants could actually see her. The game was simple: each contestant filled out a brightly-colored questionnaire asking things like, "Do you prefer to STUDY HARD or PARTY HARDER?" "Are you more likely to watch a CHICK FLICK or an ACTION FILM?" The bachelorette would give her answer and then every contestant with the opposite answer had to leave the stage.

We watched for a few minutes before someone wearing a BYUSA t-shirt approached us. "The girls are next. You guys should do it!" she said cheerily, handing us each a copy of the questionnaire.

My friends shook their heads, laughing. "No way!"

"Guys, we should! Come on, why not?" I urged. "It's our first weekend as college students. We need to live a little!"

 Apparently my pep talk was the encouragement they needed, as they laughingly agreed and we all filled out our questionnaires.

A few minutes later, we found ourselves standing on the stage surrounded by about 80 other giggly freshman girls. I huddled to the side with my three friends, soaking in the excitement and randomness of the whole situation. I was at BYU! I was playing the dating game! I was going to be 18 in 4 days! LIFE WAS AWESOME! We cheered every time the hidden Bachelor announced his answers and half the girls onstage had to leave. One of my new-found friends booed when she found that her answer to question 3 forced her to leave the now dwindling contestant pool.

Around question 5, I found myself standing onstage without any of my wingwomen. All three of them had been eliminated and were now sitting in the audience, wildly cheering me on. I grinned nervously at them as question 6 kicked off another 10 contestants and I moved closer to the front of the stage. I think it was at this point when I started wondering What if I ACTUALLY win this thing? 

By the time question 7 rolled around, I was committed. My competitive side kicked in. I was going to win The Dating Game. Those other girls had better watch out.


10 questions. 10 questions that I had answered correctly. All of my answers matched those of the mysterious Bachelor and I found myself standing at the front of the stage with 5 other girls who were equally lucky. The crowd went wild when the host announced us as the final 6 contestants. My own 4-person cheering squad was going nuts yelling "CHARMER! CHARMER! CHARMER!"

At this point, the competition got a little more intense. The Bachelor would ask a question and each of us had to respond. After listening to our responses, he would eliminate one contestant. My little freshman heart was pounding wildly every time I took the microphone. Luckily for me, he liked my rendition of "All I Ask of You" (when he asked us to sing him a love song) and apparently it was acceptable that my favorite flowers were daisies.

Finally, the competition was down to three of us. We were each given 10 seconds to make a pitch about WHY we should be the chosen one. For the life of me, I can't remember a word of what I said. All I remember is giving the microphone back to the host and having people shout "PICK HER! PICK HER! PICK HER!"

And, whether it was peer pressure or the fact that I have a beautiful sultry voice (haha...not), when the host asked the Bachelor to make a decision, he announced "I choose CONTESTANT 3!"

Oh wait, what?!?! That was ME!

Winning was kind of like this. Except I didn't get a rose and I wasn't wearing booty shorts.

The crowd went wild, friends and strangers alike. I followed the host over to the other side of the curtain, where the Bachelor and I awkwardly embraced. The host pulled us aside to get our phone numbers and let us know that BYUSA would be setting up a date for us the following Friday. It would be a double date with the blonde Bachelorette we'd seen earlier.

My friends excitedly swarmed me as I walked down the steps. There were cries of, "I can't believe it!" and "Girl, he is CUTE!" and "Your first date at BYU!" all shouted simultaneously into my still-astonished face.

"Well, I guess I'm going to get my first alphabet letter," I replied, grinning.

Curious to find out what went down on the date? Check out PART 2!