Tunnel of Love

Across the United States and in other places in the world, including some countries like Slovenia, Japan, and Canada, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14. Valentine’s Day is often celebrated by giving gifts to significant others or even family and friends. These gifts include, the common ideas of, flowers, chocolates, and stuffed animals.

According to History.com, the myth of this holiday is that there were more than one Saint Valentines’. Apparently, Saint Valentine was a Roman priest who would perform secret weddings because at the time of the third century, weddings weren’t allowed. While he got imprisoned for his secret wedding acts, he healed his captor’s blind daughter causing the entire household to convert to Christianity. Before Saint Valentines’ beheading, which happened to be on February 14, he sent the girl he healed a note saying “Your Valentine.”

Now, according to others, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love among and between others. Some people absolutely love the holiday and others don’t really like the holiday. Sophomore, Keana Richardson, says she likes celebrating Valentine’s Day, especially with her family because she doesn’t have a significant other to celebrate the holiday with, so she takes the advantage by bonding and baking Valentine’s Day treats with her family.

“Before I didn’t really like Valentine’s Day because I don’t have a boyfriend and I always assumed that the holiday was just for couples. Until my family and I made this tradition to bake a lot of desserts for Valentine’s Day. We just stay home as a family and we bake a bunch of desserts like red velvet cake, strawberry cake pops, and brownies with red and pink sprinkles on top. We just bake regular desserts and we add a Valentine’s Day twist to it,” said Richardson.

Others, like Richardson, take the advantage to just celebrate Valentine’s Day with family and friends. Junior, Carmen Pico, says she loves spending Valentine’s Day with her friends. Pico says she and her friends turn Valentine’s Day into a fun and chill time for themselves.

“Valentine’s Day for me isn’t a big deal for me. However, my friends and I always turn it into Galentine’s Day to make it more fun. Since my friends and I are all single ladies, we just get together at someone’s house and we order pizza, watch a movie, and play games. This year, we are going to hang out at my house and we’re going to just eat ramen noodles and chill because we haven’t hung out outside of school in a while,” said Pico.

Valentine’s Day is a holiday for couples to celebrate together. Sophomore, Jazmine Martinez, says she loves the holiday of love and she celebrates Valentine’s Day with her boyfriend by going to the movies and exchanging small but thoughtful gifts.

“I love Valentine’s Day because it’s a great way for my boyfriend and I to celebrate our love for each other. We exchange gifts like gift cards and stuffed animals. Then we go to the movie theater to watch a movie,” said Martinez.

Some other people spend and treat Valentine’s Day like a regular day. Freshman, Kailey Rossi, thinks Valentine’s Day is just another day in February. Rossi says it depends on what day the holiday is on which is how she will spend the day.

“I spend Valentine’s Day like it’s an ordinary day. I don’t have anything against people who like the holiday or celebrate it, it’s just a holiday that’s not important to me. If it’s on a school day, I go to school, then I go home, and do my homework. If February 14 falls on the weekend then I just stay home and I watch Netflix. The only thing that I do like about the holiday is the candy and all of the special Valentine’s Day flavors,” said Rossi.

Another person who agrees with Valentine’s Day not being a priority is senior, Chloe Watson. Watson says she doesn’t like the holiday because it’s not a holiday that she is concerned about celebrating. Watson says she also spends the day chilling and watching Netflix.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love holidays, but Valentine’s Day isn’t a holiday that I like celebrating. I just prefer celebrating bigger and more popular holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. I don’t have anything against people who like Valentine’s Day, I just personally don’t celebrate it. I do, however, treat the day by staying home, relaxing, and catching up on my shows on Netflix,” said Watson.

People have their different opinions on Valentine’s Day. They either like it and spend the day with their loved ones or they don’t like it as much as other people do and treat the day like any normal day. Valentine’s Day is a holiday of love and different opinions.