Love according to Facebook
By Joanne Fox Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, February 17, 2008
Morningside College students Jordan Walsh and her boyfriend, Brady Helmink, eat dinner at the Olsen Student Center as part of their "date" night. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
SIOUX CITY -- Morningside College students Brady Helmink and Jordan Walsh were preparing for their Sunday-night date of dinner and entertainment.
Specifically, that was college cafeteria cuisine followed by playing the video game "Rock Band."
That's the reality for Helmink and Walsh, who are so busy with college that being boyfriend and girlfriend is anything but traditional.
After they sat down in the cafeteria with their food, Helmink and Walsh were joined by Helmink's roommate Troy Weber. Both had called to him to join them on this "date."
Helmink and Walsh met through Helmink's younger sister, also a freshman at Morningside College.
"Because I'm a student ambassador, I noticed her at the freshman activities," Helmink said.
"She was one of the hot ones," Weber interjected, as Helmink nodded and Walsh blushed.
"I asked my sister, Kylie, about her because I wanted to know more about her," Helmink continued. "Then, I waited for the opportunity to talk to her."
The opportunity arose when Walsh was having a "meltdown" about her chemistry class and telling Helmink about it.
"I quickly pointed out that I was a chemistry major and then realized, 'She's going to think I'm a nerd now,' that I said that," Helmink said.
"No, I was excited, because he's so cute," Walsh clarified, and it was Helmink's turn to blush.
Facebook friends
The two became Facebook friends and after that, it was pretty much official they were a couple, Walsh added. Their first date was memorable in a variety of ways. The three college students couldn't pinpoint exactly what went on.
"The first date was Chili's and a movie," Helmink said. "But I can't remember the movie."
"It was 'Good Luck Chuck,'" Weber insisted.
"No, that was the second date," Helmink said uncertainly as Walsh just shook her head, trying to get a word in while Weber and Helmink continued to debate where and what they did on that date.
"We went to Cold Stone (Creamery) on the Thursday after that!" Helmink exclaimed, and all three agreed on that. "And then I asked her to be my girlfriend on Saturday, Sept. 22nd."
Helmink said it was important for him to have the relationship be exclusive.
"Unlike Troy, for instance, who prefers dating a lot and not have one girlfriend," Helmink said pointedly as his roommate grinned. "I want a single dating partner."
He continued, more seriously, "I think you need that exclusive bond between each other. Dating is really a step before marriage."
Then, realizing the enormity of what he'd just said, Helmink added, "Not that I'm ready to put a ring on her finger or anything like that."
The attraction was more than just a gorgeous freshman and hunky basketball player, Helmink and Walsh believe.
Faith important
"I think I have a keen sense of reading people, and I could tell there was a different demeanor about Jordan," Helmink said. "I knew she went to church and believed in the Lord, and that was important to me."
"Church was one of the first things Brady and I did together and continue to do," said Walsh, who attends Sunnybrook Community Church with her boyfriend.
"When I told my folks that he was 21, the first question Dad asked was, 'Does he drink?' and I told him no and that helped," said Walsh, a freshman. "And when they met him, they really liked him, but really, who wouldn't?"
When dinner was over, the three headed to Lags Hall, where Helmink, a junior, and Weber, a sophomore, live. The video game "Rock Band" was already set up in Helmink's room. Walsh deferred to the guys, allowing them to play the video game, which uses drum pads and guitars as controllers.
"How ya doin', Jordan?" Helmink asked between pounding the drumsticks on the pads and Weber strumming the guitar
"Good," she replied with a smile. "I'm glad it's you playing and not me."
Not love at first
There was a different beginning for Derek Nolan, another of Helmink's roommates, and his girlfriend, Tarah Sagedahl, who had arranged their "date" night around homework but took a break to talk.
"We didn't like each other at all when we first met," Sagedahl said.
"We were seniors in high school who came here for a scholarship meeting," Nolan added. "When we started college here, well, we were civil to each other."
All that changed last year when the two had classes together.
"We ended up studying for the classes together and hanging out together because of mutual friends," Nolan said. "I liked that because I don't like the 'formal' date idea."
Sagedahl admitted she tired of waiting for Nolan to ask her out, so she took the bold step, almost a year ago to the day.
"I saw everyone else making plans for Valentine's Day so I asked Derek if he wanted to go out because I knew if I didn't ask him, he would never ask me," she said. "His response was, 'Sure.'"
Sure?
"You would have had to have heard the inflection," Nolan quickly defended himself. "It wasn't a 'sure' like I didn't care. I showed more enthusiasm with my 'sure.'"
Nolan proceeded to show that he was up to the date.
"I took the role of the guy," he said. "I picked her up and brought her chocolates. I held the doors open for her. And I did pay for the dinner at Applebee's."
Nolan continued the bold approach after they'd made a habit of hanging out.
"We were together and finally, I turned to her and do, 'What are we waiting for?' and then I kissed her," he said.
"And I said, 'What?!? What does this mean?!?'," Sagedahl said between giggles.
"Then, we made it official on Facebook," Nolan added.
"Because in college, if it's not on Facebook, it's not for real," Sagedahl said with a poker face. "It's sad, but it's true."
Making time
For as much as Nolan and Sagedahl enjoy being together, it's almost nothing compared to their families' support of the relationship.
"Dad is always asking when Tarah is coming to our home," Nolan said. "He calls her Tarah-misu."
"In fact, both of our families tell us if we break up, they'll disown us," Sagedahl said. "We'll have to switch families because we won't be welcomed back without the other person."
Faith is also pivotal in this couple's relationship.
"We go to church every week (also at Sunnybrook) and devotionals every night," Sagedahl said.
"It's a big cornerstone in our lives that we can share that together," she added. "The people I dated before, we didn't share that connection, that part of my life, which is the biggest part of my life."
Finding time is almost like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack for both couples.
"Lots of days, I leave my room at 8:45 a.m. and don't return until 10 or 10:30 at night," Walsh said. "To make up for not being with Brady, we text each other a lot."
"We had more dates early on, but now I'm so busy with basketball and school that, a lot of times, a date will be like tonight, talking together or maybe watching a movie," Helmink said.
"It was really tough when we would go home for breaks and the summer," said Sagedahl, who lives just north of Minneapolis, hundreds of miles from Nolan's home in Hawarden, Iowa. "We were on the phone ALL the time."
"It's hard to balance all the activities we're in here plus the homework plus being with each other," Nolan said. "Like tonight, we're doing homework together so we can be together. Sometimes you have to settle for things like that."
Our Space
Six students from Briar Cliff University and Morningside College have agreed to share their roommate experiences with Journal readers during the 2007-08 school year. Through interviews, photographs, blogs and video, they'll share their ups and downs, their joys and issues, and their ultimate adjustment to college life with a roommate.
Join our students as they navigate this initiation into young adulthood with their roommates in an ongoing series called Our Space.
Specifically, that was college cafeteria cuisine followed by playing the video game "Rock Band."
That's the reality for Helmink and Walsh, who are so busy with college that being boyfriend and girlfriend is anything but traditional.
After they sat down in the cafeteria with their food, Helmink and Walsh were joined by Helmink's roommate Troy Weber. Both had called to him to join them on this "date."
Helmink and Walsh met through Helmink's younger sister, also a freshman at Morningside College.
"Because I'm a student ambassador, I noticed her at the freshman activities," Helmink said.
"She was one of the hot ones," Weber interjected, as Helmink nodded and Walsh blushed.
"I asked my sister, Kylie, about her because I wanted to know more about her," Helmink continued. "Then, I waited for the opportunity to talk to her."
The opportunity arose when Walsh was having a "meltdown" about her chemistry class and telling Helmink about it.
"I quickly pointed out that I was a chemistry major and then realized, 'She's going to think I'm a nerd now,' that I said that," Helmink said.
"No, I was excited, because he's so cute," Walsh clarified, and it was Helmink's turn to blush.
Facebook friends
The two became Facebook friends and after that, it was pretty much official they were a couple, Walsh added. Their first date was memorable in a variety of ways. The three college students couldn't pinpoint exactly what went on.
"The first date was Chili's and a movie," Helmink said. "But I can't remember the movie."
"It was 'Good Luck Chuck,'" Weber insisted.
"No, that was the second date," Helmink said uncertainly as Walsh just shook her head, trying to get a word in while Weber and Helmink continued to debate where and what they did on that date.
"We went to Cold Stone (Creamery) on the Thursday after that!" Helmink exclaimed, and all three agreed on that. "And then I asked her to be my girlfriend on Saturday, Sept. 22nd."
Helmink said it was important for him to have the relationship be exclusive.
"Unlike Troy, for instance, who prefers dating a lot and not have one girlfriend," Helmink said pointedly as his roommate grinned. "I want a single dating partner."
He continued, more seriously, "I think you need that exclusive bond between each other. Dating is really a step before marriage."
Then, realizing the enormity of what he'd just said, Helmink added, "Not that I'm ready to put a ring on her finger or anything like that."
The attraction was more than just a gorgeous freshman and hunky basketball player, Helmink and Walsh believe.
Faith important
"I think I have a keen sense of reading people, and I could tell there was a different demeanor about Jordan," Helmink said. "I knew she went to church and believed in the Lord, and that was important to me."
"Church was one of the first things Brady and I did together and continue to do," said Walsh, who attends Sunnybrook Community Church with her boyfriend.
"When I told my folks that he was 21, the first question Dad asked was, 'Does he drink?' and I told him no and that helped," said Walsh, a freshman. "And when they met him, they really liked him, but really, who wouldn't?"
When dinner was over, the three headed to Lags Hall, where Helmink, a junior, and Weber, a sophomore, live. The video game "Rock Band" was already set up in Helmink's room. Walsh deferred to the guys, allowing them to play the video game, which uses drum pads and guitars as controllers.
"How ya doin', Jordan?" Helmink asked between pounding the drumsticks on the pads and Weber strumming the guitar
"Good," she replied with a smile. "I'm glad it's you playing and not me."
Not love at first
There was a different beginning for Derek Nolan, another of Helmink's roommates, and his girlfriend, Tarah Sagedahl, who had arranged their "date" night around homework but took a break to talk.
"We didn't like each other at all when we first met," Sagedahl said.
"We were seniors in high school who came here for a scholarship meeting," Nolan added. "When we started college here, well, we were civil to each other."
All that changed last year when the two had classes together.
"We ended up studying for the classes together and hanging out together because of mutual friends," Nolan said. "I liked that because I don't like the 'formal' date idea."
Sagedahl admitted she tired of waiting for Nolan to ask her out, so she took the bold step, almost a year ago to the day.
"I saw everyone else making plans for Valentine's Day so I asked Derek if he wanted to go out because I knew if I didn't ask him, he would never ask me," she said. "His response was, 'Sure.'"
Sure?
"You would have had to have heard the inflection," Nolan quickly defended himself. "It wasn't a 'sure' like I didn't care. I showed more enthusiasm with my 'sure.'"
Nolan proceeded to show that he was up to the date.
"I took the role of the guy," he said. "I picked her up and brought her chocolates. I held the doors open for her. And I did pay for the dinner at Applebee's."
Nolan continued the bold approach after they'd made a habit of hanging out.
"We were together and finally, I turned to her and do, 'What are we waiting for?' and then I kissed her," he said.
"And I said, 'What?!? What does this mean?!?'," Sagedahl said between giggles.
"Then, we made it official on Facebook," Nolan added.
"Because in college, if it's not on Facebook, it's not for real," Sagedahl said with a poker face. "It's sad, but it's true."
Making time
For as much as Nolan and Sagedahl enjoy being together, it's almost nothing compared to their families' support of the relationship.
"Dad is always asking when Tarah is coming to our home," Nolan said. "He calls her Tarah-misu."
"In fact, both of our families tell us if we break up, they'll disown us," Sagedahl said. "We'll have to switch families because we won't be welcomed back without the other person."
Faith is also pivotal in this couple's relationship.
"We go to church every week (also at Sunnybrook) and devotionals every night," Sagedahl said.
"It's a big cornerstone in our lives that we can share that together," she added. "The people I dated before, we didn't share that connection, that part of my life, which is the biggest part of my life."
Finding time is almost like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack for both couples.
"Lots of days, I leave my room at 8:45 a.m. and don't return until 10 or 10:30 at night," Walsh said. "To make up for not being with Brady, we text each other a lot."
"We had more dates early on, but now I'm so busy with basketball and school that, a lot of times, a date will be like tonight, talking together or maybe watching a movie," Helmink said.
"It was really tough when we would go home for breaks and the summer," said Sagedahl, who lives just north of Minneapolis, hundreds of miles from Nolan's home in Hawarden, Iowa. "We were on the phone ALL the time."
"It's hard to balance all the activities we're in here plus the homework plus being with each other," Nolan said. "Like tonight, we're doing homework together so we can be together. Sometimes you have to settle for things like that."
Our Space
Six students from Briar Cliff University and Morningside College have agreed to share their roommate experiences with Journal readers during the 2007-08 school year. Through interviews, photographs, blogs and video, they'll share their ups and downs, their joys and issues, and their ultimate adjustment to college life with a roommate.
Join our students as they navigate this initiation into young adulthood with their roommates in an ongoing series called Our Space.
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