NEW HAVEN, CT — The News has recently learned that a Davenport first-year from New York, James Mattson ‘25, does not know another Davenport first-year from New York, Sam Miller ‘25, but does know someone from Miller’s New York school.
When Charlie Moore ‘25 met Miller in the Davenport dining hall and learned that Miller was from New York, he immediately thought of his suitemate, Mattson, who is also from New York. Before Mattson could explain to Moore that not everyone in New York knows each other, unlike in whatever Missouri hamlet Moore hails from, the two New York first-years were introduced.
“Oh, you went to Dalton?” said Miller, “I was at Horace Mann.” Hearing that Miller went to Horace Mann, Mattson asked whether he knew Natalie Friedman, a current Boston University freshman whom Mattson had met at a Future Leaders in Business summer program in Prague. Miller replied, “Oh, yeah, of course.” Natalie was in his biology and calculus classes.
Despite having found a mutual acquaintance, Miller and Mattson’s conversation began to fizzle out. “I mean, I know Natalie but not well,” Miller explained, “it seemed like James knows Natalie a lot better than I do.” Mattson confirmed this: “We hooked up a few times.”
The New Yorkers were quickly tasked with discovering something else they had in common, like taxis or the Mets or other New York things. Fortunately, they were able to salvage their first interaction by discussing Frank Ocean, whom they had both indicated was one of their favorite artists on the Facebook group back in April. The two hope to use Ocean as a reliable conversation topic in the future, lest they end up forced to talk about pizza.
The News reached out to Ms. Friedman, but she declined to comment.
—J. Gustaferro
