The local radio station WNAA presented the Valentine’s Day Expo in the Exhibit Hall on Feb. 7.  

Ezinma Murphy and Nikki Henry hosted the event and is also the weekend “Head to Toe,” radio show personalities. They are also members of the WNAA Street Team. The expo gave students an opportunity to receive free advice on relationships and tips on how to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  

The event began with a presentation by A&T speech professor Ingram Deans.  Deans spoke to the audience about the five ‘love languages’ and how to maintain a healthy relationship.  “Once we are able to identify our partner’s love language we can better determine how to maintain a successful relationship,” said Deans. 

“Valentine’s Day can be made special without spending a great amount of money.  

Quality time is something money cannot buy and is often all your partner wants.”   

The presentation was followed by a musical selection, “Angel of Mine,” from A&T student Darius McKiver.  The poet Josephus then performed an original spoken word piece about relationships.  Following the poem, members of the Verge Modeling Troupe revealed appropriate fashion to wear on a date.  That performance was followed up by a ‘What not to Wear’ segment for both men and women when preparing for an evening out.  The event concluded with a hair show displaying various hairstyles to try for Valentine’s Day.  The models’ hair was styled by Nikki Henry of Influence Hair Care.   

“It was brought to my attention that A&T had very few events targeted towards Valentine’s Day, one of the most heavily celebrated days of the year.  So we wanted to hold a showcase to help students prepare for this upcoming holiday,” said Murphy.  “We have you covered from head to toe just like our radio show.  Students will receive tips on how to dress, how to style their hair and where to go for Valentine’s Day.”

Several booths promoting organizations and companies were also present at the expo.  A local salon, Kotur Kutz, had a booth promoting healthy hair care products.  A Mary Kay Cosmetics booth was giving away free makeup samples.  Suggestions on upcoming movies were given at the Sony Electronics booth.  Influence Hair Care, Hidden Beach Records, and Aggies Against Aids also had booths and materials for student at the event.  

“This is our first street team event and I am very excited about it.  We’ve gotten a lot of support from local businesses.  I’m glad to see a good turnout and I just hope people leave with some great tips to make their Valentine’s Day more memorable,” said Lauren Branch, street team leader and junior JOMC electronic media major.   

The expo proved to be a successful event with students leaving full of inexpensive ideas on how to spend this year’s Valentine’s Day and free give-a-ways from the various booths.                 

• Jessica Grissom