The pop-up stand in front of Tommy Trojan was bursting with red, pink and yellow blossoms. People stopped to gather bunches of flowers together, wrapping them in red tissue.
Srilekha Davuluri, a freshman Health and Human Sciences major, had a busy schedule planned this Valentine’s Day.
Srilekha Davuluri: Yeah, so unfortunately, it’s a day filled with classes. But afterwards, I’m going to be playing tennis and going to my club tennis team.
She’s still taking the time to arrange a bouquet. Davuluri says that she plans on sharing her flowers.
Davuluri: I think flowers show effort and like, throughout the day I just want to, like, give the flowers out to my friends when I see them later. I just think it’s - it’s nothing huge, but it just shows that you care about the person.
She wasn’t the only one giving flowers to someone special. Business major Fabian Francis was also picking up a bouquet at the shop.
Fabian Francis: Today I’m here to make it okay for my girlfriend. I kind of like some of the yellow ones and the red ones. So ... and her favorite color is yellow.
Tiarra Joseph, a freshman majoring in Quantitative Biology, thinks that there’s more than one way to give on Valentine’s Day.
Tiarra Joseph: I think like, there isn’t one set way to celebrate. I mean, if you enjoy flowers, then go ahead and use them but like, I don’t know if there should be a pressure for like just using flowers or expressing yourself in different ways.
Senior film and television production major Ben Ephraim had another take on flower-giving.
Ben Ephraim: I don’t personally like to get my girlfriend flowers. [laughter] No, I’m kidding. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. No, it’s - it’s, flowers are lovely. I would love to go get some flowers for my girlfriend on this wonderful day.
The flower pop-up shop was busy, with Trojans waiting fifteen or twenty minutes to build their bouquets. Plenty gathered flowers for themselves, their friends or their significant others, a Valentine’s Day gift from the heart.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Marie Louise Leone.