“When you just meet someone, going someplace like the movies where it is dark and quiet does not make a good start,” said DiAne Townsel, a 2007 MSU alumna.

While at MSU, Townsel studied social work and focused her major on family counseling. She said people, sometimes unknowingly, choose the wrong dating environment.

“A bar is not a very great place to have a date because the music is loud and then you have people drinking too much,” she said. “My ideal place for a date would be a walk in the park — you get a chance to communicate.”

Along with communication, Townsel and others, such as jazz studies senior Bryan Cotton, advocate activities that avoid the awkwardness, like ice skating.

Cotton said a couple of rounds at Munn Ice Arena could bring fruitful communication, as well as laughter.

“Activities like that take the pressure off things that otherwise might be awkward,” Cotton said.

Cotton’s fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Zeta Delta Chapter, holds its annual icebreaker at Munn Ice Arena.

“There is a bunch of people around you usually, so there is no pressure,” Cotton said. “On first dates you try not to ask questions that are obtrusive or too personal, just let the conversation flow and have fun.”

When it gets too cold to walk in the park and enjoy the outdoors, restaurants like Cosi, 301 E. Grand River Ave., make it possible to have fun with activities like roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.

“It is very popular and great for couples,” kinesiolgy freshman Emily Bolthouse said.

Bolthouse, a Cosi employee, sees the process of roasting marshmallows over a small metal burner as giving couples a chance to talk in a fun and innovative way.

“It serves as a great icebreaker for a couple or group of four, that is not formal and is very laid back and fun,” she said.

Cosi offers the treat at $7 for a couple and $13 for a double date.

Townsel and others agree that these activities help set the groundwork for getting to know each other, especially if your date has unfavorable personality traits.

“Even going to an amusement park or museum is a place to get to know people better. Especially when you don’t know them well, they might not be the best person for you,” Townsel said. “How would you know if you don’t communicate?”