Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

Normally, I do these random act of kindness things on my own. I find some free time, get some inspiration from Pinterest (not always surprisingly), and generate ideas until I can pick my favorite one. I'm going to be honest, I love doing these random acts of kindness. I love putting aside the time to do something that's not physics, chemistry, or calculus (ha ha engineering jokes ha).

Here's my favorite valentine joke thus far: Are you made of copper and tellurium? because you're CuTe ;)

However, this week, my inspiration came from my roommate (okay, yes I know I talk about her quite a bit, but she's probably the best person on the face of this earth...). A few weeks ago, her mom sent her some little valentine cards to give out. My mom sent me lollipops to give out.

Valentines Brought to You by Karen Sjoberg

I was standing in my room, staring out the window dramatically, and pondering my thoughts like the budding philosopher that I am, and it hit me! Why don't we put the candy and the valentines together? If I was animated, the lightbulb would have shot out of my head.

Last night, I got back to my room around 10 and my roommate wasn't too far behind. I saw the valentines sitting on her desk; she had already made a head start. When she walked in the room, she looked at me with the eyes and asked, "Are you ready?" She was so excited, and so was I. 

We put the first few together, and I looked at her and said, "Why don't we do the whole hallway?!" She was on board as soon as I said it. Now, I know we've lived in the same hallway for almost six months now, but I still don't know everyone (and yes their names are pasted to their doors). So, as we were making the valentines, we snuck out and checked for everyone's name and made sure the spelling was right (disclaimer.... I messed up someone's name and as I was going to stick it to her door, I almost had a heart attack). 

Once we had all the valentines ready, we went into sneak mode. My roommate wanted to make the whole thing anonymous, and we even signed the valentines "From: Cupid ;)" 

You Can Call Me Cupid From Now On

My roommate had one of those eyes-almost-closed-can't-contain-my-excitement kind of smiles on her face and she was physically shaking from all the hype. I couldn't help but laugh. We taped the first few valentines onto our roommates doors without anyone noticing. The problem was, though, people were in and out trying to get ready for bed! We had so many close calls. For example, I went across the hall and two doors down to stick a valentine on one of our good friend's door. Well, as my hand reached out, the door fell away...

I didn't even hesitate. I turned on my heel and sprinted into the stairwell (and up two flights of stairs just to be safe). I still had the valentine in my hand. I finally decided the coast was clear and snuck my way back down and into the hall way. 

At the end of the night - the whole ordeal took us about an hour or so - I was finally settled into bed, but then I heard a knock on our door. I opened it and saw a girl who I do not see very often (to be honest I think she might hate me and a few of my friends because we can get a little rowdy after quiet hours - disclaimer, quiet hours are like 8 pm). She looked at me, and said "I hate to ruin your surprise, but thank you so much. This was a really cute gesture." I'll cross my fingers and hope that she won't report us to our RA for being loud anymore.  

At the end of the day, this random act of kindness taught me that what I'm doing isn't meant to be singular. And yes, I share my random acts of kindness with others every week or so, but completing this one with my roommate was much more fun. Not only was I excited, but to see the thrill of her getting to do something kind for others was quite touching. Also, if we're being brutally honest, she's louder than me, so I hope the girl down the hall can think back to this Valentine's Day and her frustration might turn into a smile. 

So here's to a Valentine's Day that was less sucky than expected and here's to repairing relationships with distant acquaintances. Here's to sharing experiences with those closest to us and here's to making the world a better place, one random act of kindness at a time.