College move-in day was exciting.  The day was perfect: Warm and sunny.  Students flooded the campus and traffic was bumper-to-bumper.  It was the beginning of my new life.

I could not believe how I was suddenly granted freedom.  The previous day I had to tell my parents my comings and goings.  Now I could go where I wanted, when I wanted, and I did not have to report to anyone.

I was also amazed at all the girls of all races swarming the campus.  It was a young single man’s paradise. And a perfect place to try out the Formula.

I had added three additional “Rules” for myself to increase the odds of success.  Those Rules were:

  1. Rule 1: Get to know as many dateable girls as possible.  The more women, the higher the probability that I will successfully secure a date.
  2. Rule 2: If a girl agrees to go on a date but she stops being communicative or is no where to be found 48-72 hours before the date, pivot and go to the next option.  This was my attempt at preventing getting stood up.
  3. Rule 3: Be assertive in the process.  Timid boys stay home and watch Family Matters on Friday night.

During my first month at college I accumulated the following friends:    Sharon, Kim, Joyelle, and April.  Rule 1: Check.  It was hard to determine where I stood with Sharon, Kim, and Joyelle so I put the probability of rejection to be high.  I was becoming good friends with April but I really wasn’t interested in her beyond friendship.  I knew she would very likely agree to go out if asked–probability of rejection low.  I made her my last option to ensure success of the Formula.   Patricia, who was a fellow freshman, was still my main target and was friendly around campus.  Did I have a chance?  Based on our past history I put her at an even change of rejecting me. So the probability of getting at least one date was over 90%.  Excellent.

An upcoming October home college football game presented the perfect date opportunity.  I got my courage up and asked Patricia two weeks in advanced  if she wanted to go.  She said yes and seemed so excited!  My dream of taking her out finally came to fruition.  I immediately purchased the tickets, which were a lot of money for a college student.

A week before the event she went missing in action.  I would call, leave messages but never heard back.  72 hours before game time…Ghost.  Pivot.  I asked Sharon out.  Rule 2 & 3: Check.

It was a slightly awkward conversation; I am not sure if she really saw me as someone she wanted to hang out with.  She agreed and I was happy to finally to be going on my first official date.  On game day, I walked over to her dorm and it took us 30 minute to walk to the stadium.  I tried to make small talk but she barely said a word.  Once at the game, I continued to try to make conversation but she was stone faced and seemed disinterested.  She probably only said five words the entire night.  It was my prom all over again.  After the game, I walked her back her dorm in dead silence.  As I head to my dorm, I wondered what went wrong.  I finally got a date but it was lame.  What was the point of the Formula if I can only attract disinterested girls?  I spent the next months trying to figure what when wrong.

God, on the other hand, had a plan.  He was just beginning to deal with me and my rebellious heart.  He would use a guy and not a girl to achieve His purposes.

{This  is Chapter 4 in the Blog Book,
Girls:
A Story about my Spiritual, Analytical, Poetic,
and Humorous Adventures in Dating and in finding a
Proverbs 31 Woman}