Student demands extra credits for being single on Valentine's Day

For the average undergraduate student in Bangladesh, the only thing worse than being alone on Valentine's Day is having to spend it on campus. Between feeling sorry for yourself and wondering if there's something fundamentally unlovable about you, finding more couples on campus than CSE students at a private university is bound to do a number on your morale.

Rahul Aman, a frustrated Engineering student, believes that universities need to offer emotional compensation in the form of extra credits, a sentiment shared by most others in their department. 

As he shares his seventh Facebook post against the principles of Valentine's Day in the last hour, he says, "It's bad enough that the girl who told me last week that she wasn't interested in dating is celebrating Valentine's Day with her boyfriend. On top of that, not even a single faculty member is taking any quiz today to put a damper on the mood. Giving singles a few bonus marks as consolation is the least they can do right now."

He, too, was once an optimistic freshman stepping into the compound of his university, with expectations of a romantic life heightened by one too many bollywood movies with spontaneous dance sequences. Upon being unable to secure a date on two subsequent Valentine's Days, Rahul is left with no options but to adopt the "single by choice" label to save his dignity. Or what's left of it after having a conversation with himself in his crush's DMs for an entire month.

However, Rahul's ventures have not been received kindly among his peers who are in relationships. Salman Rashid, a quintessential Finance student with a penchant for cryptocurrency, has been vocally against Rahul's noble movement. 

"I'm going to be the devil's advocate here, Valentine's day is worse for people in relationships. This is a materialistic world. In the span of a week I had to buy roses, chocolates, and gigantic teddy bears to appease my girlfriend. You don't see me asking the university to refund me for this insane scam of capitalism, so why should he get extra credits for no reason?" says Salman.

Zabin Tazrin Nashita is a student of Islamic University of Technology.