From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Erika Schmidt, and I'm Virginia Hunt. This is Season 2, Episode 6 of Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following the college experience and asking students a question about life in Northwestern. Last week, we talked with Northwestern couples about how their love started along the lakeville. But we all know college isn't always roses and chocolates for everyone.
In honor of the single students on campus, we ask Northwestern students to share some of their worst state experiences. Maybe to make you or anyone else wanting a Valentine feel a little bit better about those rough romantic experiences. Medell Freshman, Ada Helscher, reminisces on a bad date in eighth grade. Just a refresher for people who don't remember middle school relationships, picture emailing each other because you didn't have a phone yet, sitting next to each other in the lunchroom and walking to class together.
That was Helscher's version of dating her next door neighbor, but their first official date was later on in the relationship, out of convent, a half a mile away from her house. He picked me up from my house walking, obviously, because when you're in eighth grade, you can't drive. We walked hand in hand over to the convent, because it's actually like really pretty. A convent's a nunry.
So we were like with nuns, but we walked down to a bench and kind of secluded area and talked, and we kissed, and it was my first kiss. It was not good. Like really awkward, but he was very into it. And then they left.
But Helscher's story doesn't end there. He dropped me off at my house, and then three hours later, I get an email from him, because remember, no phones. It was only emailing. So I get an email from him that is essay-style about how he believes in abstinence.
And he doesn't think we should go any farther, and he really loves me and values me, but doesn't want to violate himself and wants to wait until marriage to know that it's truly meaningful. And it was a peck. We literally had this 13, such as not on my mind. Like literally had not crossed my mind.
He was one of that. I broke up with him. Weinberg's sophomore, Simon Rosten, had a memorable date during his sophomore year of high school. It all started with an Instagram DM from a girl he met at Summer's Teach and Debate camp.
She Instagrammed DM and asked me literally word for word to ask her out. Because her family decided that men had to ask out the woman, because they were insanely Christian, which I did not know at the time. So we went to the movie theater, and her older sister was there, and she sat behind us in the movie theater. And when the girl like leaned in close to me during the movie theater, her sister physically fished her away.
And then after the movie was over, her sister was taking her and said, just so you know, she's not kissing you or having sex until you're married. Wait, was there a second date? Yes, I was. I didn't know anyone.
I was going to a new school, and she was a person I knew. There was not a third date. Weinberg freshman, Ronaldo Tenea, was supposed to have a first date with a guy last weekend. We agreed to get dinner.
Last week he texted me, and he was like, hi, like are you free this weekend? And I was like, yeah, like of course, like are you free on Saturday afternoon? He was like, yeah. So he goes to Chicago.
And I was like, oh, like we should get dinner, like where should we go? And he wanted to get dinner, like in an area in Chicago. And I was like, okay, you can pick the place. I was like, I'm not familiar with the area, obviously.
And he was like, okay, like let's just figure it out the day of the day. But the day of Tenea was still unsure about the plan. I was late, so I was supposed to get on the train at like six. I got on the train at like six forty.
I texted him, I was like, oh sorry, like I'll have to push it back tonight. And then I sent him another text. And I was like, oh, so where are we meeting specifically? An hour past, I'm still on the train.
No response. No way. Luckily, Tenea was staying the night at a friend's dorm. So he had a backup plan.
I got to her dorm, no text though. An hour goes by, no text, two hours go by, no text. My friend is like, oh, let's just go out with my friends, like whatever. And I was like, okay, but like that's so messed up.
I go to sleep the next morning, I wake up and I'm getting ready and I get a text. And it says, yo, I'm sorry, I fell asleep early last night. I was exhausted. There's no way.
But there's no way. I understand if you went to sleep early, but there's no way you were asleep at some of you. Do you have any tips for people to handle the situation or to avoid the situation? If a man is not gonna go above and beyond to pop every second of the date plan, don't go.
Don't go over there. I should have like made sure that there was a plan in place before I even decided to like take the train to Chicago because it is a long commute there. Sesame Jr. Lucy Joseph didn't even get to the actual date, but the buildup was a story in itself.
I was on Hinge and I matched this one guy. He was like pretty ugly and he was also 27. So we were like talking a little bit then. I was messaging him a lot.
So there's like a lot of red flags here. And then I invite him to come over to my house to the party and he had a freak out. He was like, I just like, I think it's too early to do that. Like I'd love to go to a party with you like when we're further into the relationship.
He asked if she wanted to get dinner with him another night instead. The next day I was like, oh, I'm like really busy today. Can we actually like push it to a Monday or whatever? Because I was like, I don't think it was anymore.
So trying to figure out a way to like either cancel it or push it back again. Then I got texted from an unknown number and it said, hey, this is Jack. I think I left my wallet at your house at the party on Saturday. Do you have it?
Joseph originally thought that this was one of the Jacks from the Northwestern crew team. It was not. In fact, it was a guy from Hinge trying to find out if she was ignoring him. I was like, hey, like, I'm sorry.
I just don't think I'm gonna be able to go tonight. That's like all I said. And he was like, oh, okay. How's Jack doing?
And I was like, what? And then I blocked him and I blocked him and I blocked the other number too. Because I was like, oh god, this is terrible. Do you have any advice for people in similar situations?
Don't just run flags. Don't ignore your gut. Like, my gut was telling me, oh, girl, you didn't know I go on this day. You heard it here first.
Watch out for Walking Red Flags. From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Eric Ischmitt. And I'm Virginia Hunt. Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Diaries.
This episode was reported and produced by me in the airishment. The audio editor of the Daily Northwestern is Eric Ischmitt. The digital managing editors are Julian Haener and Olatungi Osho Williams. And the editor in chief is Alex Perry.
Make sure to subscribe to the Daily Northwestern's podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud to hear next week's episode on Monday.