RELATIONSHIPS: QUESTION + ANSWER
Sophomores Sophia Troshynski and Thomas Cuddy
Q: How did you progress from just being just friends to dating?
S: We started spending more time with each other; we went to the Viennese ball and danced and talked. And it was fun and then we just started having lunch together. And then he asked me on a date and I said sure.
Q: What are your favorite–or least favorite–things about each other?
S: Least favorite? How about *everything*
T: *laughs*
T: I don’t know. I just like talking and being around Sophia.
S: I mean, I really like that you’re a really kind person. And everyone you talk to likes you. I just really admired that. And you make me laugh, too. It’s like, whenever I’m around you, you know…
T: I feel like you get me more than most people.
Sophomores Sahiti Rachakonda and Raunak Daga
Q: How did you guys meet? What were your first impressions of each other?
S: We met in 3rd grade.
R: We did Odyssey of the Mind together. And I don’t even remember honestly…
S: It was so long ago.
Q: How were you able to progress that friendship into a relationship?
R: We talked a lot over the summer–
S: –going into ninth grade
R: We had a lot of late night conversations. And now we just make time over the weekends.
S: Weekdays, not so much.
Q: What are your favorite things about each other?
R: I love her smile.
S: Aw, and I love how much he cares, about me and about everyone.
Seniors Zane Givans and Otilia Danalache
Q: What were your first impressions of each other?
O: When I first started to get you know Zane he was a lot different than I thought he was. I knew who he was beforehand but I was somewhat surprised that we got along so well; I never saw us becoming friends. But he had a really similar sense of humor, similar interests, and he was just easy to talk to.
Z: We do a lot of the same stuff. We both played soccer. We were in the same drama class. We share a lot of interests.
Q: How did you guys start dating?
O: We went on our first date towards the end of summer–
Z: –after eighth grade.
O: A lot of people have said that we would date and we never necessarily planned on it. I didn’t know that if I wanted to date, especially my freshman year at TJ. But it got to a point where I just realized I really really liked him and cared about him and there was kind of no reason to not date. I think we got really, really close that summer and early freshman year. We didn’t end up making it official until later freshman year but we were still very much so together that whole period.
Q: What are your favorite things about each other?
Z: She’s really intellectual, she really cares about everything she gets into. She’s very passionate and adamant and I think anyone that knows her knows that. She’s very beautiful. She cares about me and she shows that she cares–every time we have an anniversary she’ll always put a lot of work into the projects she makes.
O: I really really like Zane because he’s just a really kind person to be around and you feel happier talking to him, you feel the energy he brings to any conversation in group settings; he’s just such a fun person to be around and we can’t really have boring dates because any conversation is going to be really enjoyable.
Juniors Brian Hu and Aimee Feng
Q: Tell us a story–a funny moment you’ve had with Aimee.
B: Okay so once upon a time I had black hair but fast track people have red hair, so [I thought] I should get red hair in order to be quick. So I go to Walmart and finds some weird red color. Then comes the day where we were actually trying to dye my hair and we open that packet of bleach–I was knocked out; [it] literally burned my insides and we was doing this in a bathroom sink. We [were] in a gas chamber by the time we realize that it probably was a good idea to open a window… So this dye needed to be burning my head for a good straight 30 minutes, so for 30 minutes I had my head hanging outside of a second story window dripping blue outside trying to hold my breath while yelling at Aimee to try to read a clock, because last time she did this, she hid the clock and I had no clue how long that dye was in my hair… So I took it right out once I started looking like I had hair as white as a grandma. Moral of the story: get a watch before you let your girlfriend dye your hair.
Q: Tell us about the time you dyed Brian’s hair.
A: We got the DIY dye kit which has a bunch of powder and chemicals in it. The warnings said the compounds when mixed might explode and the whole process should be done in a well ventilated area, so we were kinda cautious about the whole thing, especially since we were in a small bathroom with only this tiny window open. But then when I opened the powder packet and dust flew everywhere Brian got freaked out and proceeded to cover his entire face with a towel. Then about two minutes in, as we were slathering his hair with the dye solution, he said the smell was too much so he stuck his head out the window–it was raining at the time too–and proceeded to try and put all the solution into his hair with half his body hanging out the window. And he shooed me away because the smell was too strong, so I had to go to the room next door and stick my head out the window to try and shout loud enough for him to hear me, and we just spent fifteen minutes yelling at each other from different windows before he very dramatically went back to the sink and washed out the solution. But the smell wasn’t that bad. And he claims it was 30 minutes, but he only kept it in for 15, which is why only half his hair is red.
Freshmen Julia Lamy and Ian Park
Q: Tell us about a memory you’ve shared with Ian
J: I have two stories I can think of. On our first date we wanted to find somewhere between us and ended up picking a random shopping center – we didn’t realize that there was nothing to do until we got there, so we ended up getting some food and then [had] to talk on a bench for 2-3 hours. We covered a lot. I think around hour two we got to childhood TV shows.
My second story is when I gave Ian some books to read and I thought I had chosen the books that didn’t have my “edgy” 6th grade annotations in them, but it turns out one did. And Ian kinda loves it and won’t let me here the end of it; I was mortified. So now he just quotes my quotes to me and will bring it up any chance he can, and I deeply regret not flipping through my book more carefully…
Q: Tell us about a memory you’ve shared with Julia
I: So basically, Julia lent me a book to read recently because I mentioned wanting to read something. It was a very young-adult sort of book with high school romance and stuff like that. Anyway, as I was reading I noticed that she had underlined certain phrases and quotes, and wrote her thoughts next to them. The thing is, these thoughts came from her mind of a few years back so they were… “edgy” – we all had that phase in middle school, you know? I mentioned noticing the annotations to her and she immediately went “NO I THOUGHT I DIDN’T WRITE IN THAT ONE!” Needless to say, she was super embarrassed. The quotes have become sorta inside jokes now and she hates me for it.
Despite having to juggle a busy schedule, couples at Jefferson find ways to spend time with each other. By sharing moments and memories together–especially in a stressful school environment–they are able to cement their relationship, creating a meaningful bond.
Whether it be dancing together at the Viennese Ball or dying each others’ hair, Jefferson couples create special moments with each other and show that love is more than just a four letter word.