Krista Tschetter

The definition of a “perfect date” varies greatly from person to person. In fact, there may be as many creative ideas for dates as there are proverbial fish in the sea.

The general consensus of SDSU students interviewed on the subject was that communication is important, money is usually an object and its not necessarily the “where” but the “who” that matters while planning night out.

“Guys are creative right away,” said freshman Ashlee Toennies. “(My boyfriend and) I went to the circus and did other cool stuff that was creative and fun at first.”

Liz Juntunen, a journalism major, has her own favorite places to go on dates.

“McCrory Gardens, they used to have a really good rose garden,” she said. “I guess its romantic.”

Juntunen also liked the idea of doing things outdoors, like hiking or swimming. She said she preferred nearby Oakwood State Park.

“It’s real outdoorsy.”

Other cheap or free ideas were popular, demonstrating most college students’ lack of funds.

“Tuesday’s perfect because its cheap movie night and Taco Tuesday,” said Junior Shannon Ridgeway. “Two tacos for 99 cents.”

Others preferred going places that fostered conversation.

“Movies are really bad because you can’t talk in movies,” said freshman Krista Kack.

“Mini golfing is good.”

Searching the internet may also provide imaginative dating suggestions.

Several simple ideas are online at http://mtmt.essortment.com/datingideascre_rexh.html.

One of these, the “deserted island picnic,” is a picnic held on the island between two opposite lanes of traffic. The site suggests finding a wide median, preferably with some grass or a few trees. A variation of the plan is to have a pizza delivered to the island.

Another idea the site offers is a guessing game.

One of the daters goes out and takes pictures of different restaurants and event venues ahead of time, and then puts the pictures in blank envelopes.

Then throughout the course of the date, the other person picks envelopes to determine where the next stop will be.

Creative dating ideas and careful planning may provide a good opportunity to get to know someone and have some fun, but cannot be relied on completely to foster the “perfect date.”

After all, compatibility often plays a more important role than any other in how successful a date will be.

And that may be impossible to control.

Junior Tyler Turek believes there is such a thing as planning too much for a date. He suggests trying to pick the right person and hoping for the best.

“It doesn’t matter what you do,” he said. “Just be spontaneous.”