Student journalists, like everyone else, have mixed feelings, emotions and memories on Valentine’s Day. Want proof? In this compilation, they share what the day means to them with sometimes sweet, sometimes sour and sometimes entirely surprising stories. 

Growing up, Ava Jordan (‘24) always watched TV shows of people buying candygrams for others during Valentine’s Day. She loved the holiday when she was a kid because her family would do their own version of candygrams. She also loved writing poems for her friends and getting free candy from her friends. 

But that wasn’t enough, Ava wanted to experience receiving and buying candygrams. Ava wanted to be those people in the shows. She waited and waited for high school, where Valentine’s Day would be the “best day” as she watched candygrams get passed out and traded.

Sadly, CSD does not offer candygrams so now Ava will never get to fulfill her dream. 

When Evan Mulligan (‘26) was little he used to love those little heart shaped valentine candies so much that he would beg his mom to buy them whenever she went grocery shopping. He did this for the entire month of February. 

She would usually oblige then Evan would eat them all in one day. This back and forth usually went on for the whole month of February, though some years it could even extend into March.

In elementary school, Emma Sands (‘25) was always most excited for the candy. She would buy lollipops, cardstock and chocolate a week in advance and spend hours cutting out mini hearts and writing each of her classmates’ names on them. For her, checking off the last name on the class list was almost as good as taking stock of all the candy she would get from her classmates the next day.

“The Dove chocolates were always my favorite, and I’d always trade the excessive amounts of Fun Dip for them,” Emma said. 

Now in high school, she misses this very much because in high school no one gives anyone candy and believes students should bring that tradition back because her Halloween stock is gone by November.

“I look up to Emma Davis as an amazing old person who shares my love for candy,” she said with a smile.

For Emma Davis (‘24), Valentine’s Day was something she always looked forward to each year, not because of the secret admirers, boys, roses or dates. No, no, no. Valentine’s Day was about something much more important, much more appreciated – the candy. 

“Nothing screams Valentine’s Day more than candy,” Emma said.

And buying it around Valentine’s Day is worth the trip to the store. Take CVS for example. Everything is on sale – fun pink colors, too – and if you’re lucky enough, you get to receive candy for FREE! 

Not that Emma has. One can only dream. 

“Anyway, stop by CVS because It’s highly recommended,” Emma Davis said. “Emma Sands would agree. She loves candy.”

For Conner Shelton (‘25) Valentine’s Day has always been something that he dreaded especially in elementary school. 

¨It was the worst day of my childhood,” said Conner. 

He always thought of Valentine’s Day as the day when he had to write and hand out poems to other kids in his class. Whether it was a haiku, Acrostic or anything else Conner hated to write them and especially hated to hand them out to classmates.

¨What if they don’t like me and their poem,” Conner said.

He also had to worry about what other people wrote about him and whether they liked him or not. 

¨The only good thing about Valentine’s Day is candy and the fact that the teachers didn´t make you read your poems.¨ Conner said.

Conner loved to go home after school however and look at (hopefully) all the nice things people wrote about him. 

But more importantly he cared about what kind of candy he received. You see, candy to Conner is the only thing he finds sweet during Valentine’s Day. Whether it is chocolate, Sour Patch, heart candy, etc., he loves it all. 

Salem Lacy (‘24) always looked forward to Valentine’s Day, ever since they were little. They’ve always loved the spirit of love in the air, and the decoration. Hearts, candy, along with red and pink everywhere always seemed to make them happy. 

“The colorfulness in the middle of a dull winter is uplifting,” Salem said. “It’s really gray in winter, and you are just kind of trudging through it until spring break, so the color is like a nice boost.”

That feeling continues even today.

Valentine’s Day is one of Emma Burch’s (‘25) favorite holidays and it’s not for the reasons you may think. Emma gets to celebrate her great grandmother’s birthday. How’s that for love? How’s that for special!

Valentine’s Day is also one of Sinclair Berry’s (‘25) favorite holidays. She loves all the heart decor and pink and red colors. 

Sometimes Sinclair wishes students could get the day off from classes. Why? Not because of doing lots of time consuming things to celebrate, but only because Sinclair thinks it’s a great reason to stay home.

Sinclair also likes to pick out her outfit for Valentine’s Day. She can wear shades of red and pink. 

And Sinclair likes poetry but used to dread writing poems to her class in elementary school. Those poems are a required CSD tradition.

Ever since Brandon Amaya (‘25) was little he thought Valentine’s Day was a fun day whether it was buying little cards with some sort of candy or using a colorful pencil. 

Brandon says Valentine’s Day is also like a mini Halloween because there is usually a lot of candy and chocolates to exchange. 

And when he was little it was a good time to get little gifts like a stuffed animal from his parents.  

Ben Gallagher (‘25) has always been indifferent towards Valentine’s Day. 

“It’s basically just a Hallmark holiday with little meaning behind it,” said Gallagher.

To him it doesn’t feel like there is a point to the day and many people blow it way out of proportion. Ben says people could spend their time in many better ways than stressing over a useless holiday.

And although Holt Grier (‘25) says he has never had a relationship with anyone, he still finds it a fun day. He always gets cards from grandparents and sometimes his parents will give candy and other fun gifts. 

He especially loved it in elementary school when everyone gave each other cards and would put candy in student created mailboxes. 

Holt says the SpongeBob Valentine’s Day special is also really fun. 

And he loves the festive pink, red and white colors plus the different candies (like those chalky heart ones and chocolate of course) and much more. 

“There’s just so many things to look forward to (on Valentine’s Day),” Holt said.

Teachers have stories, too.

For journalism teacher Mr. Savicki, Valentine’s Day has always been about flowers, confusion and uncertainty all mixed together.

“It started way back in elementary school,” Mr. Savicki said. “We were given the choice of making different colored paper roses that we would then give to another student or students in the classroom.” 

Each color, he remembers, had a different meaning. A yellow rose meant you “liked” someone and a red rose meant you “loved” them. For a young boy without a ton of self-confidence, the activity became more about fear and potential rejection than fun.

“What if I gave a red rose to someone who gave hers to someone else?” Mr. Savicki said. “I remember being crushed and broken hearted on multiple occasions.”

To this day, whenever he sees roses on Valentine’s Day, Mr. Savicki flashes back to those early days of rejection.

Like it or not, Valentine’s Day comes on the same day in February every year and with it comes mixed emotions and feelings. Celebrate it if you choose or make it like any other day. The choice is yours. Regardless, just have a great day.