His shirt color didn’t match the description, but Yael Lehmann, a freshman enrolled in letters and sciences, knew he was the right guy. Jared Stein, a sophomore in letters and sciences, was already waiting for his blind date when Yael eagerly walked into Starbucks on March 5.

How did introductions go?

Yael: We were told an hour before going what each other was wearing so we could find each other. I kind of recognized him from around, but his description was a green button down and when I walked in, we both knew we were supposed to be on the date. I told him his shirt had green in it, but it was not a green shirt and that he didn’t match his description. But it was ok, we found each other. 

Jared: They went well. I knew she would be wearing a blue shirt and black jacket. I told [the matchmaker] I would be wearing a green button-down shirt, but I ended up wearing something different. It definitely had some green elements in it — I wasn’t completely lying.

What was the starting point of the conversation?

Jared: We were surprised that we didn’t know each other. But it was nice. I think when we first met, things were pretty smooth. It wasn’t awkward.

Yael:  we introduced ourselves and then went to get a drink. The first thing we talked about was how we heard about Mitzpeh Matchmaker and who asked us to do it. At the beginning of first semester, I read a piece about the matchmaker. I thought it was so funny and wanted to do it. This semester I got a text that asked if I was still interested.

How did the conversation go?

Yael: There weren’t any awkward silences.  I told him how at first I had a plan that if I thought he was weird, I would leave within the first 20 minutes. He asked me if he made the cut, and I said yeah. It had been 22 minutes at that point.

Jared: We talked about how she had been to Maryland before, when she was in high school, with her sister and how it was much crazier then. We also talked about both working at Hillel.

What did you guys have in common?

Yael: He lives in Newton, Mass., and I love it there. I go there about once a year at least. We both work at Hillel too.

Jared: We talked about she was doing the alternative break to New Orleans, and I just did it in Ethiopia. We also talked about trying to navigate [Newton] by naming different synagogues and congregations. It was pretty funny. 

What did you find interesting about him/her?

Jared: She’s a nice girl, really friendly. She seemed to be really excited for the date, like I felt like she told all of her friends about it. She was really pumped for it, which was really cute.

Yael: He’s really active in Hillel. He does CEI, which is a really cool program. He volunteers for different organizations and just seems really involved.

What were the highlights of the date?

Jared: It was pretty exciting that she loved Newton so much because I have a lot of pride for where I’m from.

Yael: He walked me home. I was nervous it wasn’t going to be an easy date because you don’t know his name or anything about him beforehand, but it was totally chill and fun.

How would you rate the date on a scale of 1 to 5?

Jared: 5. It was a lot of fun; we had a great time.

Yael: I’d rate it a 5. It seemed like this would be so weird, but we got there and started talking, and it didn’t feel weird at all.

How did the end of the date go?

Jared: It was nice. I walked her back and ran to a meeting. Her place was on my way, so it was perfect.

Yael: He was on his way to Hillel, so it wasn’t out of his way.

Any future plans together?

Yael: We exchanged numbers. We ended it like, “see you around.” Now that I know who he is, I’ll probably see him more.

Jared: She invited me to a party. We’ll see where it goes.