Once Upon A Time… specifically this past Friday the 13th, before the sugar crash really kicked in and knocked us out, The Signal newsroom was a land of buttercream frosting and way too much red dye.

Now you may be asking yourself: “Why all the glitter and glucose, Signal? Why the aggressive levels of festivity?” It’s not just because we have a collective sweet tooth (though we can’t deny that helped). The true nature of our mission was much more noble.

To set the scene, we know that Valentine’s Day can sometimes feel like a once-a-year meeting at an exclusive club where the password is a dinner reservation for two, leaving those without a romantic partner to wait outside in the cold for the next go-around. But here at The Signal, that was simply not going to fly.

Which is why we were embracing the day’s festivities with a celebration of platonic love – friendship –  decked out in red shirts and pink bows, when, out of the blue, we caught wind of a bad vibe. A collective voice of cynics reverberating around a large open space: raising up their voices to bring down the mood.

The voices grated our nerves, agitating, like a certain reality T.V. dance teacher ready to kick someone off a number. The type of voice that would make you want to cry yourself to sleep. And it was coming from Atrium I.

After making the trip to face these V-day villains, our eyes were greeted not with pink, or red, or any suitably bright color, but with the complete and total absence of any. A stand for an “Anti-Valentine’s Day Party” had been set up by the Center for Student Engagement, and was being manned by students dressed in goth and emo makeup, booing at the mere mention of this precious and positive holiday.

Uggh! Eww! Not on this day of Love!! How could they do such a thing?! We needed to restore some sense of balance and bring this monochromatic mess some color.

So we stood proudly before those cupcakes covered in buttercream as dark as the abyss, our smiles full of joy and enough pink energy to light up the whole Bayou Building.

The moral we hope you take away from our story is that enjoying Valentine’s Day should have nothing to do with your relationship status, and everything to do with how much positive energy you and your friends can bring to the floor. Whether “alone” or in a pair of two, there is always space in this world for a bit more color and a LOT more heart.