By Carol McKay
Daily Bruin Contributor
Valentine's Day isn't fun for everybody.
The candy, flowers and emotional cards surrounding the celebrated day more often induce nausea than happiness among some students. When St. Valentine's Day is associated with some of the horror stories told by students at UCLA, dread towards the holiday is understandable.
"It was horrible," said Kirra Steel, of a Valentine's Day memory from two years ago. As a junior in high school, Steel and some friends planned to help a girl win the heart of her long-term crush.
"We stayed awake all night helping her write the letter to him. She baked a cake and put together a flower arrangement. It was so perfect," Steel said.
"The next day, we went to school early to set it all up in the back of his truck. My friend left a cheesy note telling him that she liked him and when he came out, he was so embarrassed, he never talked to her again," said the first-year English student.
Broken hearts are easy to come by on a day with such high expectations. Sharon Padua, a first-year pre-nursing student, has witnessed her share of such disappointments.
"My friend found out right before Valentine's Day that her ex-boyfriend, who she was still totally hung up on, asked out one of her closest friends. I felt so sorry for her. She really loved him," Padua said.
Sometimes such disappointments date as far back as junior high school.
"I remember my girlfriend in eighth grade broke up with me right before Valentine's Day. I had just bought her a silver bracelet and before I could give it to her, she broke up with me," said Gabe Leung, a first-year biology student.
At the Valentine's Day dance that afternoon, Leung was confronted with the problem of too many girls.
"These two girls both wanted to dance with me, but I really didn't want to dance with one of them. I hid behind people and danced with the other girl, and the first girl got really mad. She tore the head off of a teddy bear, took out the stuffing and gave it to the girl I danced with."
Things appeared to be better for Leung because "the girl I danced with wanted to be my girlfriend," he said.
But this love was short-lived for Leung. "She broke up with me the next day."
Though Leung suffered bad Valentine's Day experiences early on, he said that it has not skewed his outlook towards the holiday.
"I still like Valentine's Day. It's dope!" he said.
Other students recalled incidents of mean-spirited Valentine's Day gifts, ranging from dog bones to break-ups.
"My friend liked a guy a lot, and he knew it. On Valentine's Day, he wrapped a dog bone up like a gift and she was so excited," said Sharon Ongerth, a first-year undeclared student.
"She opened it up and cried. The guy was such a jerk that he threw it at her as she was running to the bathroom."
Many students agreed that such traumatic experiences are uncommon on the special day.
"And then there are some of us who don't have Valentine's Day stories at all. Good or bad," said Sarah Pak, a fifth-year biology student, who plans to wear all black when she goes out tonight.
Despite a history of mediocre Valentine's Days, some students maintain a mature attitude.
"I guess it's nice if you've got someone to give your love to. I guess it could be a pretty cool day. But if you don't ... I don't know," said Joseph Kwak, a second-year undeclared student.
Other students are more blunt about their feelings.
"Valentine's Day sucks," said Olivia Medina, a first-year undeclared student, is one of many Valentine's Day scrooges at UCLA. "Everybody's all happy because they've got boyfriends. I wish they'd just shut up."
: I don't know anything about wold, I've never decided to be a teacher and I don't do shut ufs. 
they never cease to amaze me
True story, 5 years and poof! 
