BYU–Hawaii students said they feel Valentine’s Day is full of high expectations and awkward situations. Male or female, single or attached, everyone expects Valentine’s Day to be a special day. But the holiday can be a let-down or one of the happiest experiences of their lives.
Gayla Prakash, a freshman in international cultural studies from Fiji, was disappointed one Valentine’s when she had a date to her high school’s dance. “My date picked me up late, and he didn’t come dressed. He didn’t bring flowers or chocolates, and he really didn’t do anything special as my Valentine’s date. He just picked me up and dropped me off at the dance and then went off with his friends. Towards the end of the dance, he came up and asked if I was ready to leave.”
Not all of Prakash’s past Valentine’s were a disappointment, and she recounts her best Valentine’s was when she went to a ward dance with her crush. “I didn’t know he liked me, and he didn’t know I liked him. But after the dance, he gave me big boxes of chocolates, red roses, perfume and then we went star gazing that night.”
In Japan, women give gifts like homemade desserts to men on Valentine’s Day, according to Daiki Sato, a sophomore from Japan studying accounting. “Men are expecting gifts from the ladies, so my worst V-day was when I did not receive any gifts at all, and the best is when I get a lot of gifts from girls.”
From Canadian marketing junior Jacob Stewart’s experience, Valentine’s Day is the worst on the mission because he “was with dudes the whole time during the most romantic day of the year.” His unforgettable Valentine’s Day experience was when he was in ninth grade. Stewart explained, “I Myspaced a girl I liked on V-day, and I asked her to choose which guy she liked out of three options. And she said No. 3, which was me. I brought her flowers the next day and was so happy when she told me she liked me.”
Megumi Suita, a freshman from Japan studying computer science and graphic design, recalled the first time she tried to celebrate Valentine’s Day when she was in junior high. “It ended up being the worst experience because I spent a lot of time on researching and preparing and a lot of money for ingredients to make a chocolate cake for the guy I liked. I baked it the day before, but the next morning when I woke up, the cake was so hard and I ended up not giving the cake to him.”
Her favorite Valentine’s Day was in high school, when she was able to make a good chocolate cake to give to the guy she liked. She found out he felt the same way. “We became a couple on Valentine’s Day,” she continued.
Aaron Chang, a sophomore from Taiwan studying accounting, said because his sister’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day, he always finds the day enjoyable. However, Chang’s worst memory of Valentine’s Day was when he tried to talk to his ex-girlfriend. “I had just broken up with her back in January and on Valentine’s Day, I tried to talk to her and she didn’t want to talk to me.”
Trisha Panzo, a freshman psychology major from Qatar, had a bad experience one Valentine’s Day when all of her friends received flowers and she didn’t. “So I went to buy myself flowers,” admitted Panzo.
However, there was a different Valentine’s Day when she got 15 flowers from different guys. She said it made her feel really loved and cared for.
“My worst Valentine’s Day was seeing everyone else being sweet to each other and holding hands when I didn’t have anyone,” shared Sarah Acobera, a freshman from the Philippines studying psychology. “My best was when my mom and I had a mother-daughter date for Valentine’s, and she took me to go shopping, and we got our nails and hair done. It was just fun.”