Love, Kisses, and Valentine’s Wishes

By: Kayla Tejero

Love is truly in the air! When I think of Valentine’s Day, I think of chocolates, teddy bears and flowers. It doesn’t matter if you’re single, taken or celebrating with friends, Valentine’s Day is the day all about love. It is a day to express affection to our loved ones with greetings and gifts. Considering my relationship status at this time, which everybody knows – I am single – I will be celebrating it with friends and family. This year is going to be a different celebration. I want it to be more special and more fun. It is definitely going to involve a lot of self-care! But when it comes to love, I want real love. Just like everyone else who had their fair share of falling in love with the right person and the wrong ones, I want to have real love from someone other than family and friends. Someone who truly believes in me. I made it too close to one before only to find out it was a wrong love. That relationship trauma made me stronger and firmer in my conviction that true love will come, just not yet. My Valentine’s wish includes a lot of positivity in life. I wish for real love to come, if not soon, I am sure in the most perfect time. I wish for more friends to cross my path – people who will inspire me and I will inspire in return. I wish for peace and joy for others, for my family and for the world. This Valentine’s day, I’ll cherish every moment with positivity, with gratitude and bigger dreams. I will continue to work on improving myself, being creative and socializing with select but quality people worthy of my attention and affection. I hope that all of you out there will celebrate in your creative ways. Valentine’s day comes once a year, let’s make it great when we can! Here’s what our college students have to say about their dreams and aspirations. Abby says, “While in college my goal to accomplish was to pass my exit nursing exam once so that I can go take my NCLEX nursing license exam. I was able to complete these goals thankfully in one attempt and now I have been a nurse for five years. As an Asian American my goals as a nurse is to utilize my career to be able to enjoy my life of traveling across the country and spending time with family.” Nubaria says, “As an Asian American college student, I am currently pursuing a degree in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics, a field that is rapidly growing with the advancement of today’s technology. This past year, I’ve worked with two prestigious companies learning more about the world of tax and accounting. I hope to further my knowledge in that field by either working with those companies or related companies again after graduation, or pursuing a masters in accounting or taxation.” Francis says, “As an Asian immigrant, I would want to make my parents proud by chasing a further education past my bachelor’s degree. They have set me up with a good foundation and bright future by giving me firsthand experience in the field I want to be in. They are both nurses, and I am following in their footsteps.” Alexis says, “I have successfully secured a role as a Sales Representative in logistics, marking the beginning of a dynamic career journey. As I move forward, my goal is to consistently foster personal and professional growth. Looking ahead, one of my aspirations is to explore five new countries!”

Nubaira, Senior
BS Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Francis, Senior
BS Nursing
Aurora University

Alexis, Graduate
BS Communications and Public Relations
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign