BY CHERALYN BARRINGTON
Lions’ Pride Assistant Layout Editor

Although Valentine ’s Day is seen by many as a corporate holiday, it also holds sentimental value for many with someone to celebrate with.

As someone who has gone through many Valentine’s Days both with and without a significant other, I’ve experienced feelings of both appreciation and disgust for the holiday. I know that corporations pull in an excessive profit from multitudes of candy hearts, boxes of chocolate, and roses. However, I personally feel that also goes for other holidays such as Christmas and Easter, which does not make me like them any less. I, like many others, enjoy giving and receiving kiddie valentines and boxes of chocolate. Each Valentine’s Day I go out and buy a box of paper valentines with children’s cartoon characters on them, and I enjoy every minute of filling them out and passing them out to all of my friends.

I miss the days in grade school when each student was required to pass out valentines to everyone. Those days were fun and I think they should be reinstated so nobody ever feels left out. Valentine’s Day does not have to be just for couples; it should also be celebrated by friends. One of my best Valentine’s Days ever involved getting a group of girlfriends together to watch The Notebook and eat heart-shaped chocolate. Sure, Valentine’s Day assists stores in bringing in the bucks, but it is meant to be about love. Love is not reserved just for significant others, but instead, mothers, fathers, grandparents, mentors, and friends. If all kinds of love is celebrated, Valentine’s Day can benefit everybody.

Any holiday can be expensive, especially when there are so many choices to buy for loved ones. I personally like to bargain shop, and not necessarily purchase items designated for Valentine’s Day.

Whether a chocolate comes in a pretty box or not is not what really matters; what really matters is the chocolate deliciousness inside. To make things cheaper, buy a regular box of chocolates or a chocolate bar and then make it decorative by adding ribbons or bows. Last Valentine’s Day I received the best gift I could imagine from my boyfriend. He began collecting little chocolates and small sentimental items here and there and put them into a pretty red container. The box contained interesting things like a mini Build-A-Bear heart that said “I love you,” pink and red Gasparilla beads, chocolate that was being sold at school, and even a Cat Woman valentine from 1992 that he had never used. It was the cutest thing I could have imagined, and was not very costly. Valentine’s Day can be appreciated and celebrated without spending a huge chunk of money. Instead of complaining about how much Valentine’s Day sucks, I’ve chosen to appreciate it for everything it is and everything it is not, and I have enjoyed it each year.

I appreciate Valentine’s Day as a day to tell people I love them. I know every day should be used to spread love, but that does not necessarily happen. Valentine’s Day serves as a sort of reinforcement that forces people to get creative about the gifts they will give one another. Valentine’s Day can be very nice for couples; it can serve as a nice night out to appreciate one another. It can also be seen as an excuse to watch cheesy romantic Valentine’s Day movies, such as the one coming out this year titled Valentine’s Day. I feel that it is easy to see the downside of anything, but a little more difficult to see the positive aspect of things. I have decided to see the positive aspect of Valentine’s Day in recent years, whether single or not, and have enjoyed the results. As a final remark, any day that involves gifts and a plethora of chocolate is okay by me!