Credit for featured image: The Amherst Student
Hi readers! Welcome back! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story of my Valentine’s Day surprise.
Valentine’s Day is a fun time on the Amherst College campus. Students usually wear valentine theme colors, like pink, red, and white, there is seemingly always free candy around campus, and there are valentine theme decorations on campus, such as heart shaped cookies at Valentine Dining Hall (Val).
A key component of the Valentine’s Day experience at Amherst comes from a surprising part of campus life, the a cappella groups. There are many a cappella groups on campus, and they have a large number of Amherst students that are members of these groups. Even though I myself am not a member of an a cappella singing group, I have friends that are involved in these groups, and I am well aware of their presence on campus.
A fun tradition on the Amherst campus that is particular to the Valentine’s Day season is the singing valentine’s provided by the a cappella group Route 9. They are a fun, all male a cappella group that iconically wears yellow suspenders when they perform. For the entirety of Valentine’s Day, and I mean from the very early hours of the morning, they take requests from students who want to surprise another student with a group of Route 9 singers, serenading them with a romantic song.
Prior to this moment, I had only laughed at the stories of other Amherst students, as they recounted how they were surprised with an early wake up valentine, or if they were sung to in class or another public location. This past February, I was surprised with my own valentine…
On the Friday of Valentine’s Day, I was undergoing my usual schedule. I finished my morning class, ate breakfast at Val, and walked back to my dorm. I set down my backpack, and called my grandma on FaceTime to say hello. We had only been talking for about 10 minutes when there was a random knock on my door. I was confused as to who it could be, and when I looked through the peephole, I saw the shadow of many figures outside.
I opened the door and was shocked to see Route 9! Six members of the a cappella group filed into my room and began to sing me a Valentine song. I was immediately blushing with embarrassment, and trying to act normal during this surprise Valentine’s Day surprise! In looking for clues as to who could have sent me this singing Valentine, I see that one of the Route 9 members was holding a white board that says “Love you roomie.” I immediately knew that it was my roommate from freshman year, Dede Lonsdale ‘27, who had sent it to me!
Because I was so caught off guard in being serenaded, I hadn’t ended the FaceTime call with my grandmother. She had been listening the whole time! One of the Route 9 members noticed that my phone was propped up on my desk for a call, so he grabbed it and showed my grandma that they were singing to me. She loved that she was able to see this fun moment! Once they were done singing, they left my dorm, and I was left giddy, excited to talk to Dede about what had happened.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions about Amherst, or would like to talk further, email me at cjaeger27@amherst.edu.