The SBOs brought Valograms once again to the students of Skyline High School. It was open the last week of January and the first week of February, right before the Sweethearts dance.
Mannat Bhatia, the Student Activities Board President, was in charge of running the logistics of the Valograms. She chose gifts like cupcakes and soda and others to be sold. The Snoopy pin and chapsticks were extras from the prior year.
“You can literally give a Valogram to anybody you want to, and it can just be for fun. I feel like it brings people together, and you can’t put a price on that,” Bhatiasaid. Anything could’ve been written on these notes. The most common sayings that were written on the Valograms had been “I love you,” “You’re my favorite,” and “I love being your friend.” Many students got creative with it though; during the sale at lunch Bhatia had seen some really fun Valentines notes including inside jokes. “It’s cute that people have inside jokes and can connect with other people like that,” she said.
Bhatia had found it to be fun and cute when friends sent multiple Valograms to one person in the friend group. However, some Skyline students had gone overboard according to Bhatia and sent a bunch to one person, including the friend group Bhatia is in; everyone in the friend group made a fun joke by sending a huge stack of Valograms to one girl in the group. She received a giant stack of papers plus gifts, like lip balms and suckers, from each of her friends.
But, how many Valograms are too many? Bhatia said, “I guess it depends on what it is, like if I’m receiving 5 cupcakes from one person. It would be like ‘EWOO thanks..!’ […] If you get a pin you get to keep it instead of just eating it. I think to an extent it is fun, if you go overboard […] I don’t judge. It’s kinda funny.”
The annual Valogram sale was a huge hit; there were around two hundred to three hundred Valograms sold in the first four days. Bhatia said the SBO’s would have sold more Valograms if they had more in stock of specific things, but she estimated that around 400 to 500 Valograms would be sold by the end of two weeks.
An interviewed Skyline couple had talked a bit about their experience with Valograms and their relationship. Mae Hight had bought a Valogram for her boyfriend Izaiah Woolston.
“I got him a Snoopy pin; he likes very cutesy things,“ Hight said.
The couple was excited to share details about their Valentine’s day and how much they cared for each other. They have been dating for over a year and are open about their love for each other. Hight shared this story about their first anniversary they had shared together: “We were talking about our gifts […] We ended up getting each other a scrapbook, both of us. Both of us made a scrapbook. His was a lot better.”
Hight had not only sent her boyfriend an adorable Valogram, but she had also picked out a Valentine’s day gift during her Christmas shopping. “Yeah I’ve had his gift picked out and bought since Christmas, ‘cause while I was Christmas shopping I saw it. They’re matching necklaces with a lasered in phrase that we use all of the time,” Height said.
As for Woolston, he shared that he loves Valentine’s day, because he has Hight to spend it with and is very grateful for her. The couples’ six words they’d use to describe their relationship would be healthy, passionate, respectful, amazing, lovely, and caring.
“I mean y’know I just really love my boy, and I don’t know, I can see us making it out of highschool […] I’m just pretty sold on this one,” Hight said.
