Aggies share their thoughts, plans and advice for celebrating love this Feb. 14.

Valentine’s Day is a holiday where any form of love can be expressed, whether that be alone or with another individual, and psychology junior Sophia Doran said she plans on taking this opportunity to focus on herself. 

“What I like about Valentine’s Day is for single people such as myself, it is a good day for self-love, self-care and working on your relationships with your friends,” Doran said.

The holiday, like many others, brings many shopping deals on candies and other items, which is what bioenvironmental sciences sophomore Brianna Johnson said she finds most enjoyable about Valentine’s. 

“I have no correlation to the romantic part of Valentine’s Day, so my favorite part is the candy and the sales that you get afterward,” Johnson said. 

Elementary education freshman Emma Johnson said she believes that the holiday is worth celebrating with people regardless of the type of love. 

“I think it’s worth celebrat[ing] the people you love, even if it’s just not like a romantic relationship,” Emma Johnson said. “You have Galentine’s Day gifts and stuff, so I think it’s kind of fun.”

As college students, sometimes financial issues can be difficult to overcome, but Doran said when celebrating the holiday, personal creations are more cherishable.

“Something as simple as writing a letter, something that you make personal, shows a lot more thought and effort than you having to go and buy a bunch of roses or chocolate,” Doran said. “While those things might be well enjoyed, [they] are temporary. Flowers will wilt and die and chocolate gets eaten and gone, but your letters will last way longer and have more memorable value to them.”

Brianna Johnson said she doesn’t plan on celebrating this year, but if she could, it would definitely be with friends or someone of interest. 

“I’m not celebrating because I’m not in a relationship, but if I could celebrate, I would probably just go get dinner and hang out with the person I am with [or] I think I would just celebrate it with my friends because I know a lot of them aren’t in relationships,” Brianna said. “I know people do ‘Galentine’s Day,’ so I’d probably just do one of those situations with my closest girlfriends.”

In contrast, Emma Johnson said she plans to spend the holiday with her long-distance boyfriend. 

“I’m celebrating with my boyfriend, but we’re long distance so I bought him a few gifts of stuff he likes and I’m shipping it to him,” Emma said. “We’re having a FaceTime call on Valentine’s Day, so it’s super exciting.”

Doran also said if there’s anyone she’d like to celebrate this holiday with, it would be her friends and mom. 

“If I were to celebrate this holiday with someone, I would love to celebrate with my roommates … or my mom,” Doran said. “My mom has always been one of my biggest supporters. She has the biggest heart and she gives me my warm fuzzy feelings.”