But do not fear fellow Student Edge member because we will not let that happen to you! Your friends at Student Edge have come up with the 10 worst places to have a date with that special someone you have in mind. We have collected 10 stories from our best date advisers to share with you so that you can learn from our mistakes!

Here are the 10 worst places to take your date and the reasons why (in bold so you can skim read this if you are studying for your final exams).

You don’t want to take your date to a rave or a noisy bar for the first date. You won’t be able to talk to them and they probably won’t be able to hear you anyway. It can also be pretty deflating when they get distracted by a better-looking guy or girl or someone interrupts you and steals your date away. The rave, club or noisy bar is reserved for couples that have been dating for awhile.  – Jake Dennis

One place not to go on a first date is a DVD rental store. My mate thought it would make an interesting and easy-going date, but we went in and wondered around for awhile picking out one or two DVDs. Then we came back to each other to see what the other one got. This went on for about half an hour, and in the end we could not decide, so we left and went to my house to watch TV and eat some popcorn. The moral of the story is to not to go to a place where there is the potential to have too many awkward moments. – Alex Tayler

A boat is not good for a first date. It may seem like a romantic idea, but a night under the stars can quickly become a queasy disaster. If the waters are rough or you or your partner suffer from motion sickness either of you could spend the entire time holding back the other’s hair. There is even a small chance one of you will fall overboard and will have to rely on the other to jump in and save you.  Imagine being cold and wet and trying to breathe in a sea of vomit. Yuck! Your date could  be the hottest guy or girl in the entire world, but you’re going to have to be pretty brave to give them a good night kiss after seeing everything they ate that night stuck to their shirt which smells like a river. – Steven Nguyen

A location I highly recommend you avoid for the first date is the zoo. While you may be fascinated by migrating Siberian birds or the snakes in the reptile enclosure, it is more than likely that your companion will not harbour the same obsession. If you are still desperate to go wild at the zoo for your first date, then at the very least check to make sure that it is okay with them. This will show that their opinion matters to you. – Abid Imam

A sports bar is not good for a first date. Unless you go to a sports bar for free bar nuts, the sports bar does not go well on a first date. I understand that you are very passionate about yelling and screaming at the TV screen when a player drops the ball or misses a goal, but this might not create the best first impression for your date. Sports bars are noisy places so you probably won't be able to talk to your date and they will feel left out while you get carried away by who is winning and what the score is. People get a little nervous when they see you threaten to personally strangle and decapitate every player who misses a goal or fumbles with the ball. – Steven Nguyen

Don't take your date to your school or university ball if you have had a relationship with another person who will be there. You will spend the rest of the night worrying that your ex hasn't started hitting your date with the venue’s silverware. Not only that, your date may feel awkward with your ex around. You may think that it will all be okay, but imagine how fun the classes you have with your ex will be from now on. You will be in for a wonderful year— not! - John Bou Merhi

Taking someone on a first date to a public swimming pool is a bad idea. The first date is designed to get to know the other person. It is not the date for you to hover awkwardly in the water looking at each other wishing you had chosen a better place for a first date. The atmosphere of swimming pools, outdoor or indoor, is terribly unromantic. The public swimming pool is for families, exercisers, seniors and children. T he beach or a personal swimming pool are better options. – Jake Dennis

Some of you might think that going to a bookstore or library could be a good place to have your first date. Well, I can tell you that it isn’t— even if both of you are bookworms. In bookstores and libraries, there are no places where you can sit down and chat audibly with your date. In libraries, you're not meant to be talking anyway. You'll end up whispering, not talking at all, or getting kicked out by that grumpy old librarian or bookstore manager. You could also end up being split up due to different reading interests (yes, magazines and comics count as reading). Or else you might end up following them around like giraffe, hovering over their shoulder, while they search the entire place for a book. – Ridzwan Mahdi

It is important to ensure that your first date does not take place at a family event. Taking your date to meet your family is something you risk when you are in a stable relationship. While you are trying to establish that all important rapport with your date, it is entirely unhelpful having an eager aunty or uncle telling your friend about how you used to run around naked when you were 3 years old. It can only get worse if one of your parents insists on showing photos of such endeavours! When you take a new date to a family event there is always a void between your family and your date; a distance which seems only to increase when your date tries to converse with them and your family interrogates him or her like the FBI.  – Abid Imam & Alex Tayler

A horrible first date is subjecting your date to a marathon of Star Wars movies. Sure, you might worship Darth Vader's evil breathing or Luke Skywalker's virtuoso performance against the Death Star, but trust me, it is incredibly unlikely that your date shares the same obsession. Speaking from experience, the force is definitely not with this date idea. P.S. For all you Star Wars lovers out there, subjecting your date to the aforementioned marathon is not an acceptable method to find out whether or not s/he is 'The One'. – Shanmin Tay

Now you know not to take your date to a noisy bar or rave, a public swimming pool, a DVD rental store, a sports bar, a library or bookstore, a marathon of Star Wars movies, a school or university ball, a zoo, a family event, or on a boat. But these are just ten places we have chosen to single out. I am sure you can think of others so share your dating disasters! And if you have any ideas about how to have a great first date let us know about that too!
 

December 1, 2009