Cupid Fires a Shot

Zane Rimes, Director of Advertisement

March 4, 2024

(Above) The second blind date with Aishwarya Vangala, grade 12, went well. It started off with cookies being brought in by Delaney Bolstein, grade 12, which acted as an icebreaker. It started with the first question, “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” both a humorous and an amazing opener. The date went on for about ten minutes diving into what Aishwarya does outside of school and her favorite activities. She gave key advice by saying how there has to be good communication. You both should understand what you do and don’t like, whether that comes to courses or to your personal life. Communication is key, as it’s important to understand what the other person expects from you and what you can expect from them.

Regarding the dating scheme, it seems people may fear in such a digital age where we barely have face-to-face contact. Maybe when it comes to making the first move, little things like having good communication or trying to make things less awkward on a first date, are skills that need work. The goal for the mission was to go on three different blind dates and ask a couple of questions, while also getting to know the date and having a little bit of fun. These dates were set up in the Starling Gallery of the Porter Center for Innovation and Academics. Some of the questions ranged from, “What do you do outside of school?” to “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” The main goal of these icebreakers was to make conversation and get to know the dates. All that is needed is self-confidence, communication, and overall having a good mood. As Shakespeare once said, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” –A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Overall, when it comes to going on a first date, participants need to have good conversation, avoid awkward pauses, and then you need to make sure you are clean and not looking like a person who just woke up. The other is to always make sure you have the ability to make interesting conversation. Just ask questions. Get to know the person you are talking to. Find out the interests of the person. Crack jokes, talk about your day or ask about their day. Just being yourself will always triumph and be the reason you are talked to when you are going out on a date. Especially in an age where people may feel nervous when going out. Just having your self confidence will make things all the better. All graphics by Serena Young. Date photos taken by Hayden Roberts and headshots by Ms. Ginger Bryant.

(Above) The first blind date was with Bre Sampson, grade 11, breaking the ice by asking, “How long have you been at Lake Highland?” and “Do you do any extracurricular activities outside of school?” Leading onto how much making good conversations makes or breaks the first date is important to make sure you ask interesting or fun types of questions. Don’t be bland. Making sure to have good conversations and not having long pauses shows that you are an interesting person and will make things not feel awkward or extraneous. (Hayden Roberts)

(Above) The final blind date with Cleo Richardson, grade 11, was very fun. The first question about personal interests evolved into a conversation about the board game Dungeons & Dragons. The key advice that Cleo gave was, “Have good hygiene.” If you are taking the time out of your day to go out with someone you shouldn’t look like a homeless person and you shouldn’t smell like the bathrooms of the bottom floor of the Rex Building. (Hayden Roberts)

About the Contributors

Zane Rimes, Co-Editor

Zane Rimes is currently attending Lake Highland Preparatory School as a 12th grader. He is involved with Boy Scouts and recently achieved the Eagle Scout rank. Zane is a very big advocate for cancer research since he is a pediatric cancer survivor. He continues to serve advocacy for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Currently, he loves hanging out with friends and building Legos and various other buildable miniatures. He is very passionate about writing and enjoys being with the newspaper team. Zane enjoys writing, watching movies, and listening to music while preparing for college applications.

Hayden Roberts, Co-Editor

Hayden Roberts is a sports writer for Lake Highland Preparatory School's Upper School newspaper Twice-Told Tale. Hayden has been writing for the newspaper since January 2023. Roberts loves to cover and write about all different sports and hopes one day to study sports journalism. When not writing, Roberts enjoys playing volleyball.