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Valentine’s Day: Expectations vs Reality

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSB chapter.

Can’t you see it now? Rose petals cover the floor you walk on. You’re being pampered from head to toe while eating Belgian chocolate and then. . . reality hits you. Hopefully your Valentine’s Day is more eventful than what follows: 

Expectation: An attractive secret admirer will show up at your doorstep with a gorgeous bouquet of red roses and will dramatically profess his undying love for you. 

Reality: Your secret admirer is a no show (*sigh*) and the only red roses you get are in emoji form. . . from your mom. 

Expectation: You have a magical date night planned out with your crush. 

Reality: The closest you’ve come to interacting with him is by favoriting his tweets. 

Expectation: You’ll be in the best mood ever because it’s the day of love. 

Reality: You’re slightly bitter and gawk at the couples passing by. 

Expectation: Rom-coms will totally put you in the Valentine’s Day spirit, right? 

Reality: Wrong! You end up crying, upset or both because your love life is dull in comparison. 

Expectation: You’ll be showered with cute letters and chocolate by your friends like the queen that you are. 

Reality: You guys skip the cute letters, load up on chocolate and wine and silently agree that having each other is the best thing that has happened to either one of you. Cheers!

Naomi is a fourth-year, English major and Multimedia Writing minor at UCSB. She is originally from the LA area, but aspires to someday make it in New York as a web content writer. Cats, green tea and British accents are slight obsessions of hers.
Kirby is a recent graduate from UCSB currently living in Los Angeles. As a proud Her Campus UCSB alum, she's happy to be back on the HC team covering one of her fave shows: "The Mindy Project." On any given day you can find her with her nose in a book (let's be real - it's a Kindle). In her free time, she likes petting dogs, binge-watching TV, and eating a lot of food. Find her on Instagram: @kirbynicoleb or @GirlBossEats.