Today,

my friend Liz posted on my facebook wall that she saw me in a commercial on MTV Italy for the show Savage U. Just one step closer to eternal fame and glory!!!

Savage U is a series on MTV that follows dating and relationships expert/columnist Dan Savage around different college campuses. When the show came to Cornell, there was a group on facebook asking people to sign up to be on the show. It sounded like a cool opportunity, so I called the producer, told her about myself, and filled out an application. The application asked for the gritty details of my dating life, and apparently I impressed them because I was asked to appear on the show!

A few weeks later, Dan Savage and the whole production crew took over Cornell. They hung out on the quad polling random students about the dating culture on campus, they went to the bars, they ate in our cafes. They also interviewed a few people like myself for about 2 hours at a time.

My interview took place on the beautiful Willard Straight Hall patio overlooking West Campus and Cayuga Lake. It was a chilly day, which was fine, because I wanted to wear a scarf. I was bummed that they didn't want to do my hair and make up, but luckily I was having a good hair/skin day. The producers were also bummed for a different reason. Despite my saucy application and phone interview, I vowed to be only the most ladylike of guests on the show. They were expecting something a little more...edgy. But I couldn't really see a good reason to lose my dignity on national television.

I got hooked up to a microphone and the producers told me to "do homework" while I waited for Dan Savage and his producer Lauren to come talk to me. I happened to have a prelim that week so I was actually studying when they came over (prelim=success).

We talked for a solid hour and a half about my dating experiences at Cornell. Dan was quick witted, smart, funny, and he gave some really good advice! I never felt like his jokes were at the expense of anyone else, which I appreciated. He told me that he predicted I would spend my whole life searching for the perfect Nice Jewish Boy and then one day fall madly in love with a Puerto Rican and live la vida loca with him forever and ever.

After we were done filming, he asked me to show him pictures of the boy I was currently seeing. I didn't have a smart phone, so I logged onto my facebook on Dan Savage's iPhone and found a few pics. He was impressed! Then he showed me pictures of his husband (partner? boyfriend? something) and his son. Delightful.

The Cornell episode aired in mid-June, and there have been many other episodes as well. Some of the content is inappropriate for a younger audience, but the show also covers some very important topics! Definitely worth checking out.

If you see the show (it's on MTV.com, and it's really quite interesting!), just know that it is totally unscripted and totally real--Dan Savage really is that nice and funny! And you might even learn something!