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Show WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8,2010 Relationships and Wildcats - Love at first text How new social mediums change the dating world Kory Wood Signpost columnist bers. After that, everything sped up for these two lovebirds. Johnson and Carlson texted and spoke on the phone for hours over the next two days andfinallymet for their first date on Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. "Our first date was nerveracking," Johnson said. "I was afraid she wouldn't be as awesome as she seemed over the phone. I remember the first time I saw her that night - her eyes lit up and she had the most beautiful smile. Throughout the night I grew more and more in love with her - she most definitely was the girl of my dreams." Their first date went so well that they went out the next day, and the next day ... and the next. By Abby Campbell "You have a match!" "We spent so much time together the first correspondent I The Signpost "I was so nervous to see who I had been matched with," Carlson said. "Some of few weeks we dated, it was amazing!" Carlson said. "Bryan was from Ogden and I was To say that Weber State University the people that use that application are so from Salt Lake, so it was a lot of driving. But sophomore Bryan Johnson and senior skeezy. Bryan was so handsome, though. I I think it's safe to say that all the driving was Meghan Carlson's first meeting was couldn't imagine that he was actually inter- time well spent." typical would be a lie. In February 2008, ested in me. But I decided to give it a shot, so The driving was indeed worth it. Saturday, Carlson uploaded her photo to the "Hot I sent him a message to introduce myself." April 12,2008, Johnson proposed to Carlson. Johnson was indeed interested and withor Not" application on Facebook and "Meghan always said that she didn't think clicked through rating others who had in 24 hours, Carlson had a reply back. The entered their photos on the site. Two two sent messages online for about two See Text page 8 days later she received the message, hours and finally exchanged phone num- HOTBNOT facebook Love is hard to write about. Not that there aren't millions of works dedicated to the topic; it's just that reading about love is never as good as being in it. Take Jane Austen, for instance. Right now, Pride and Prejudice is being read by at least 63 girls on campus (and four junior guys taking British Neo-Classic and Romantic while smacking their lips distastefully). Now, if an informal poll was issued to the single women on campus asking, "In what situation would you most likely meet your future husband?" 95 percent of them would answer, "I want to be standing in a British country ballroom, in a tasteful but expensive gown, look over my shoulder and see him climbing off a horse. Our eyes will meet for a moment that feels an eternity, and through a series of several weeks and many romantic misunderstandings, revealing letters and emotionally controlled conversations in the rain, he will ask for my hand, and we. will share our first kiss." Right now, there are girls reading that passage and sighing and making those I-just-saw-a-baby-in-a-pumpkinHalloween-costume noises. That's great, and books like this sure make for compelling entertainment; the problem is that it never happens that way. For instance, this last summer working as a youth camp counselor, I met my fiance'e Jill (and if you're reading this after Thursday the 11th, my wife Jill). She was my boss, and the first time I ever saw her, she was in front of an auditorium of people, and my first thought of her was, "Wow. She's tall, and she has red hair," and that was it. No horses. No smoldering glances over the shoulder. No perfumed letters. No Victorian gowns (I had to leave mine at home for the summer). Many things happened after this that neither of us can fully explain, and we are now getting married, and I am happier than any man on the planet. Seriously. I am crazy in love. You ask me, "Kory, how do you know she's the one, and why did she not discard your English-major tuckus in lieu of an orthodontist?" Well, the answer to the second question is easy (because I look like Brad Pitt's younger, hotter brother), but the answer to the first question is that, well... I just do. And folks, you'd be surprised how much love has to do with hot dogs. I can remember, in particular, our third date. We went to a Salt Lake Bees game, and I asked her if she wanted to get a footlong. Her eyes lit up, and five minutes later, I was looking on in a mixture of admiration, bewilderment and-love as she consumed a frank piled high with so many onions, the visiting right-fielder got a tear in his eye and dropped a fly ball. I knew then that this was the girl for me. I also remember a couple weeks ago, we were out purchasing a few home essentials we were pretty sure no one would give us at our^wedding (I'm still holding out for that shower radio and the Utah Jazz wastebasket, though). We decided to pick up some celebratory food on the way home, so I stopped at the first -place we passed, which happened to be a very classy restaurant (I can't tell you which one, only that it rhymes with "Bienerschnitzel"). See Love page 8 College and love life possible? By Brian Giles correspondent I The Signpost College is an exciting time in life. It is a time when people make important decisions that will affect the direction the rest of their lives will take; Not only are these choices career-related, but many students also spend their college years in relationships. Students at Weber State University are involved in all stages of relationships. There are the students right out of high school, commuting to campus and not dating anyone. At the other end of the spectrum, there are newly married couples finishing school together. Between the beginning and the end are those students either dating someone or between relationships. Public relations freshman Parker Alexander believes being involved in a relationship can both help and hurt students in their studies. "I think there's both She is married and said she homework all night long." positives and negatives," Stinson said she feels both Alexander said. "A lot of feels it helps her with her studies. her and her husband can people, especially at Weber "My husband and I are concentrate on their studies State, just go to school, go to and still spend time with each . work and,go hpme." rv both going to school,".Stinson said. "We both have the other. Alexander is not currently same responsibilities. We "Most of the time we just in a relationship, but said there were enjoyable •^froth^ h'eed ~ f o ^ f r ^ b spend our nights in the lab together," she said. moments in his previous Stinson said dating is one. different, because of the "I was dating a girl extra distraction that last ^semester, and I comes with it. had someone to hang out with," he "But when said. "I got to know you're married, some of her friends, you guys just get to so I got to know more go home and go to people, so that was bed," she said. "You cool." don't need to stay up late because you're with He added that it did take them all the time." a toll on his studies. She said marriage has "I didn't have enough helped her greatly in her time for schoolwork college career. and my grades suffered "I got the highest grade because of it." point average I've ever had Despite this, Alexander being married," she said. "I said he enjoyed the got a 4.0 last semester. I'll be experience. graduated soon, so I'll see him "I don't regret it," he more often." said. "It was fun." Kyle Rollins is a German and Fellow public relations student Bliss Stinson's situation is a bit different. See College page 8 S.M.A.L.L. but not S.A.D. Single Men Avoid Loony Love and are not SAD about it. By Mandy DeVaney correspondent YThe Signpost Once again, it's the time of year where single girls feel more alone than ever - but what about single boys? They seem to be forgotten in the cluster of stuffed animals, flowers and chocolates. Many have strong feelings about the holiday, whether good or bad. "I wish I had a girlfriend, but as far as Valentine's Day, I could care less," said WSU junior Tyrel Gailey. "I don't want to feel forced into feeling affection." One legend s a y s Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. It was decided then that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families. Marriage was outlawed for young -men. Valentine thought this to be injustice and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. *~^ ^ He was later put to death his actions. S o Valentine's Day could have very well started with single boys. "It's a great day," said WSU junior Trevor Ramboz. "It's a day for npnnlp tn PYnrpsQ thpir love that should be expressed every day. I look at it as a great reminder to love others even though I am single." Not all boys feel this way. "Pointless," Gailey said, when asked his feelings on Valentine's Day. "It's a madeup holiday that only focuses on the girl." Single girls often go out with their single girlfriends to a romantic comedy or dinner, and talk about traits they look for in guys. Boys, on the other hand, who spend it alone or go out with their friends, are said to rarely express how they feel. "My ideal Valentine's Day is to go out to bars or clubs with all my other single sad friends," Gailey said. While boys are either for or against Valentine's Day, they all, for the most part, want a girlfriend. "I would like a girlfriend, but I haven't found the right person - I mean, for a girlfriend, not marriage," Gailey said. "I feel like having a valentine makes me enjoy the holiday, where when I was single it was just a reminder that I was alone," said WSU senior Gavin McKenna. See S.m.a.l.l. page 8 |