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February 16, 2024
Gabi White celebrates Valentine's Day with a cake
Every year during Valentine's Day, many students bring flowers and candy for their friends and significant others, and dress in red and pink. The holiday seems like a perfect way to express affection for the people we love, but how does it affect those who don’t have a romantic partner?
Valentine's Day can be a sensitive time for students who are looking for love and haven’t found it yet, or who have recently gone through a break up. Sophomore Jocelyn Ocampo Mateo says, “when Valentine's Day comes around and they don’t have someone and everyone’s posting and all that stuff they can be left sad, like, ‘oh, I don’t have someone so I can’t enjoy this day.’” Seeing peers post about their boyfriend or girlfriend can be difficult for these students, and can even invoke feelings of jealousy or low self esteem. “9 times out of 10 everyone has a great time,” says junior Angus McNellie, “whether it be with friends, family or a romantic relationship, but it can be pretty impactful for young people who a lot of their opinion relies on what other people think of them.”
Almost every year, ASB puts on a fundraiser of some kind for students to buy notes and candy or flowers to be delivered to their friends or significant others. This year, in addition to hot cocoa on the quad and the highly anticipated personality match quiz, flower grams were sold for the week of February 5th, and were delivered throughout Valentine's Day. This can be a fun way for students to send their friends notes of appreciation and gifts while supporting their school, and a fun surprise for those receiving the flower grams. At the same time, it can be hard for those who don’t receive any. “The thing is, even if you’re not in a relationship you’re expecting something from someone,” says McNellie, “for example, if one of your friends was giving out flowers to everyone and didn’t give one to you, that’d be pretty awful and I feel like people place a lot of worth on how they’re treated during Valentine's Day.”
But for those who are in a relationship, Valentine's Day can be exciting. Sophomore Davis Penny says, “it’s pretty nice because I get to make something and I get to bring a gift for someone that I really love, and it’s nice because I also get to receive a gift from them.” This year, couples could be seen exchanging gifts, posing for photos, and even wearing matching shirts. But even if you're in a relationship, Valentine's Day doesn’t always live up to your expectations. and can put pressure even on happy relationships. “People in relationships are expecting a gift,” says McNellie, “or something grand from their lover and if they don’t get anything they think less of themselves.”
Valentine's Day is also the perfect time to show love and appreciation for friends. In recent years, Galentine’s Day has become an increasingly popular way to celebrate female friendships. One anonymous student says, “I think it’s necessary and I’m not just saying that because I’m bitter ‘cause I’ve never had a boyfriend. I feel like even if I did have a boyfriend I value my female friendships over any man, like those are some of the most valuable relationships of my life.” This student celebrated Galentine’s Day by having a sleepover with her friends and making an appreciation post for them. She says, “I posted something for them because everybody was like ‘look at my boyfriend,’ and I was like ooh I want in, I’m going to post a 0.5 of somebody. I think it’s necessary and I think Valentine's Day is stupid and anybody who celebrates it is ugly and I’m done seeing your boyfriend with his pubestache on my timelines, stop posting.”
Valentine's Day can be mildly disappointing or lonely for students who wish for romantic relationships, but at the end of the day, it’s only one day of the year. It’s nice to have a day to celebrate romantic relationships, and whether you’re single or not, Valentine's Day is a great holiday to celebrate the ones you love.
Davis Penny with girlfriend Acacia Mayo
On Tuesday, ASB provided hot chocolate in the quad
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