Valentine’s Day hasn’t always been seen by the majority of people as either you are in a relationship or a single Pringle. Think back to when you were in elementary school and made decorated shoeboxes for the Valentine’s Day exchange. Those were still the days where the opposite gender had cooties, revealing that the motive for this day isn’t purely about romantic relationships. Back in the day, I purely was in it for the Hannah Montana valentine with a Dum Dum taped on it and giving my best friend the best flavor of Jolly Rancher out of my love for her.

I loved opening my note from my parents the morning of Valentine’s Day with a tiny box of chocolates, reading the little notes from my second grade friends, and loved to give them back.

Somewhere along the way, we have developed the idea that Valentine’s Day is about posting a picture with your significant other with more heart emojis than usual, and while that may be part of this day’s importance, it isn’t only for romantic relationships.

Valentine’s Day is not overrated because it isn’t just about celebrating a significant other, although it is a great day to show them extra appreciation, too. This holiday is about celebrating who you love in your life and getting the chance to express that. There is a reason the term “Galentines Day” exists, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to get together with the girls to just appreciate each other’s presence while doing something you all love.

“Using the day to value your friendships is good, even though the commercialization isn’t the best. It gives you a reason to celebrate with friends, which is why we are going to the Cheesecake Factory on Valentine’s Day,” Senior Megan Bean said. This day isn’t just for the girls, it’s a day to celebrate all the bromances, teammates, and Fortnite partners. Love can be shown in many ways, and even if that’s giving a bro the last slice of pizza, or refraining from roasting them for a day, it counts.

Self-love has been a growing topic of this year, and there is no rule stating Valentine’s Day can’t be spent showing a little love to yourself by doing all the things you enjoy doing but never have the time to do.

“It’s not an overrated day because it is whatever you make it out to be, and therefore, you can get out of it what you want,” Senior Christiana Nelson said. That being said, go on a nice date with your significant other, have a girl’s night and watch a sappy Nicholas Sparks movie, make a Chipotle run with the guys and splurge on extra guacamole, take a bath with too many bath bombs, or even show some extra love to your plant babies in your dorm. February 14 is a day of nothing but positive vibes if that’s what you make it to be.

Another reason Valentine’s Day is worth the hype is because it gives people the chance to do things they otherwise wouldn’t, and would be deemed odd on any average day.

“Valentine’s Day allows people to become creative in areas they wouldn’t be otherwise, and gets them thinking about friendship, love, and compassion,” Senior Lucio Gonzalez said. Our own caf is taking part in this creativity, as they are serving heart shaped pizzas to students if they pre order them by February 12  including the pizza, salad, and frost-your-owns. It’s basically the Lady and the Tramp dinner of Gustavus, minus the candles since those are a fire hazard.

On any other day, it may seem a bit weird to eat a heart shaped pizza, but that’s the great thing about this holiday; it justifies things that wouldn’t be the norm on any given Friday. Some more examples include writing someone a cheesy poem, sending a secret admirer note through the P.O.s, picking up a bouquet of flowers and a card to finally tell your crush you like them, buying a human sized teddy bear at Walmart, or getting customized boxers with your face on them for your significant other (they turned out great by the way). Any of that would be most likely borderline creepy on any other day.

Some argue that Valentine’s Day is a great marketing scheme, and “a holiday made up by Hallmark to sell cards,” Senior Emily Scroggins said. While that may be true and we are conscious of the fact, the overflow of Valentine’s treats turns any bitter thoughts to sweet. Without this holiday hype, we would be missing out on the upcoming Valentine’s Day Frost Your Own Contest on the 12 that provides the chance to win movie tickets for two, or a $50 gift card to Bonfire in Mankato.

Every year, I make Valentine’s Day “buttons” (pretzel + melted Hershey Hug + M&M) for my friends simply because it gives me a reason to do something nice for them and gives me an excuse to eat them at the same time. Eating too much chocolate is not a thing on Valentine’s Day, especially when it comes to the heart shaped Reese’s that look more like lumps than hearts, and the red and pink M&Ms that taste better than the original ones even though they are exactly the same.

This could be a whole other opinion article in itself, but Valentine’s candy that comes in those heart shaped boxes is the best as Forrest Gump famously said “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”  It’s the little elements of surprise that can bring joy such as biting into your favorite flavor when you least expect it. So maybe you don’t have a Valentine this year, your best friend is out of state, your plant child died, or the other half of your bromance graduated. But the one thing that is a constant is chocolate, especially when it’s half off once this day has run its course.