Have you ever found love—in a hopeless place? We’ve tracked down collegiettes who’ve found flings or full-blown love interests in the strangest of places and situations. Some might surprise you, and others will make you believe you can find that special someone just about anywhere.
Change of Heart
“I found love while looking for it elsewhere! I was pretty much being led on by another guy and he invited me to hang out with him and his friends at a basketball game. I guess he changed his mind because he just blew me off the whole time. I sat off from where he was, and one of his ‘friends’ sat beside me and we talked about how big of a douchebag he was. That was the first time I had noticed him and after that I started to realize how cute and nice he was, and how unattractive and rude the original guy was! We ended up hanging out and dating, and have been together for three years now. It just goes to show that the good guy you lean on and talk with about the ‘bad guy’ can be the real prince charming you need to go after.” –Autumn, The University of Texas ‘16
Making Allies
“I met a guy I dated for a long time at a Model UN conference. I’d like to think it was very Winning London. He was representing a big country, so he thought he had a lot of influence in the debates and was overly confident. I represented a small country, so I tried to get to know him outside this pompous show he’d put on during committee (though now that he’s my ex, I’m not sure it was all a show!). I definitely recommend that girls try meeting guys at conferences or through anything academic-related. –Kat, New York University ‘12
A Perfect Trip
“I met my ex-boyfriend in a really odd situation. I had gone on a Girl Scout trip with his younger sister and when I went on a college visit near their town, my parents and I ended up staying over at their house. We couldn’t get enough of each other!” –Jackie, San Francisco State University ‘14
Close Encounters
“Working behind the counter taking coffee orders and making my customers laugh is part of my daily duties at [the coffee shop where I work]. Customers come in daily and all I do is brighten their day. One summer day it all changed when a man walked in the door and made me smile instead. Craig had come in a few times but never made an impression like this. He worked right next door so he started coming in a few times a day just checking to see how my day was going. He was always super sweet and I started to have a little ‘crush’ on him. Finally one day I was leaving work and as I was walking to my car I hear someone shouting, ‘Melissa, wait!’ and standing there in front of me was Craig! As he was running towards me he tripped and I couldn’t help but laugh. We made plans for the next night. I couldn’t help but think that I knew nothing about this man… how weird would this date be? But it never turned weird or awkward ever and now we’re happy as can be!” –Melissa, Eastern Michigan University ‘12
New Year, New Guy
“I found my current boyfriend on New Year’s Eve 2011 at the bar. I got his name wrong the whole night and he was all over the place dancing with whoever passed by. I never expected that I’d end up with the guy who was mad at me for getting his name wrong and paid more attention to random passer-bys than me, as he challenged them to dance-offs. We didn’t start talking until he drunk chatted me on Facebook once and then started chatting me simply because I was online at the early hours of the late night (4am). Facebook chats turned into phone calls and phone calls turned into sparse visits every month or so. Eventually we started dating (after 6 months of talking) and I’ve never been happier! I wouldn’t change it for anything! And I still love seeing him challenge girls and guys at the bar to dance-offs!” –Kristie, North Carolina State University ‘12
Romantic Drama
“My high school’s acting class wanted to do a play about domestic violence to raise awareness. I would be the girl who was abused, and we needed a male abuser. One of the other girls went to a study hall to ask for volunteers. Victor, bored to tears, said yes. As soon as he walked in, I was immediately attracted to him. However we didn’t start dating until well after the domestic violence play was done. He asked me out the day after we got back from fall break, and we’ve been dating ever since.” –Catherine, Chatham University ‘15
So the next time you find yourself grumbling about how you never, ever meet anyone, remember how your fellow collegiettes stumbled upon that special someone. Anything is possible, right?