Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and it is a holiday that there are a lot of mixed feelings about. Traditionally, Valentine’s Day consists of gifts, couples and love but even though it can be perceived that way, Valentine’s day gives some people the chance to express their love for one another and their friends. 

Valentine’s Day means different things to individuals as they look towards celebrating the holiday this year. For example, it is often overlooked that some people are in long distance relationships with their significant other and cannot always celebrate with them. Samantha Verespy, a sophomore communication studies major at Wilkes University, is in a long distance relationship with her partner and has been for a little over a year and a half.

“Valentine’s Day to me means much more when I am able to be with my partner. At this moment, it’s just another day. I cannot physically be with Dan (her boyfriend), so I am choosing to just kind of ignore the holiday this year. In a year that he is here, it is a big deal. We go all out and have big shows of affection and go out for fancy dates. So it boils down to I base the value on the presence or lack of presence of my partner,” said Verespy. 

Verespy continued that when her and her boyfriend do get to celebrate together, they often exchange a series of smaller gifts throughout the whole day on Valentine’s Day, exchange one more gift of a larger scale and then go out on a date for dinner. 

Valentine’s Day, though, for some people is just another day that does not have a particular significance. Many people who are not in relationships also dread Valentine’s Day. Nicholas Whitney, a senior  history major at Wilkes University, argued that it is not necessary to dread it. 

 “I treat like a normal day. I let everyone else enjoy it who wants to; I’m not a Valentine’s Scrooge that’ll ruin the day for everyone else. But I’ll do an internal eye roll every time I see some overly-extravagant display of affection that’s done specifically for Valentines Day,” said Whitney. 

He continued on to say that his plans for Valentine’s Day typically involves taking advantage of all of the discounted chocolate and sweets by buying them in stores the day after.

To others, Valentine’s Day is for celebrating love with friends, family members, or partners.  Celebrating Valentine’s Day could be anything from watching movies and eating junk food with friends or receiving cute cards. 

“I like to give gifts out. It’s nice to see people happy on a day that may not be too happy for most especially small things, silly little Valentine’s Day cards with cheesy pickup lines,” said Lindsey Becker, sophomore criminology major at Wilkes University. 

She went on to explain that her plans for this year on Valentine’s Day involve spending the day celebrating with friends and spreading her love for them. 

Many still receive gifts from family members like Cheyenne Jenner, freshman biology pre-veterinary major at Wilkes University. 

“I normally receive stuffed animals and one year a really cute little necklace of a silver teddy bear holding a little gold heart. The necklace was her favorite gift.” 

Jenner continued that she is not really celebrating this year but that her parents sent her a gift of a stuffed dinosaur and chocolate strawberries to share with her friends.

Though Valentine’s Day comes only once a year, many people still have different ways yo celebrate it,whether someone is in a relationship, single, or just wants to spread the love for any of the people in their lives.

Facebook.com/WilkesBeacon