Adriana Martinez:

At my all-girls high school, Valentine’s Day was arguably the most hectic day of the year.

As the majority of the 800 girls at Ursuline Academy of Dallas received Valentine’s Day gifts from friends, family and significant others, the administration and Student Council set up table after table in the school’s multi-purpose room to organize these tokens of affection.

As a member of Student Council, I was amazed every year by the overwhelming amounts of flowers and chocolates that we delivered to eager girls, waiting in class for the anticipated distraction.

After four days (one day a year for every year of high school) of this routine, I believe I have some insight into the significance of this holiday.

First, red and pink never look good together. It is too much even on Valentine’s Day. These two colors simply clash.

Second, hormonal high school girls are perpetually in a fragile emotional state. Such overt displays of affection, therefore, can only lead to one of two things: either very excited, high pitched screaming and jumping around upon receipt of a V-Day gift, or moping, crying and depression at the lack thereof.

Third, and on a more serious note, Valentine’s Day can be a lot of fun. It is always exciting to receive flowers, chocolates, candy, a note, whatever from someone who cares about you.

On the other hand, I personally enjoy surprises and believe that the “little details” are the most significant. Because Valentine’s Day institutionalizes the practice of the “little gift” in relationships and makes it a requirement, the surprise factor is eliminated, and the value is diminished.

While I am no exception to the majority of girls who love receiving gifts and going out on Valentine’s Day, the exact same gesture would be much more special and appreciated were it a random surprise any other day of the year.

Adriana Martinez is a junior hopeless romantic at heart. She can be reached for comments at [email protected].

Michael Dearman:

Valentine’s Day is, in theory, supposed to be about love and affection. It’s really nice to know that love and affection means buying things for each other, engaging in American materialism and all that it entails. Sad as that fact may be, the holiday itself has some value if one really engages in the core values of the holiday.

Instead of using Valentine’s Day as a pretense for gift-exchanges and overly sappy evenings, why not engage in showing love and affection for your friends, significant other and everyone else around you? Instead of fueling someone’s ego by making a day entirely about “loving” them, it may be of more value to spend time with friends and have a good time.

I always hear people complaining about Valentine’s Day as if it were a horrible burden, even people with a girlfriend or boyfriend. It never ceases to puzzle me that in the United States, we still celebrate an extremely loathsome day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Valentine’s Day has redeeming qualities, but they are not readily apparent.

I feel especially bad for males on this day who are forced to compete with other males to have the best date and gifts for their significant other. Somehow, it seems much more likely that dudes would rather be “knockin’ back brews” than, you know, buying flowers, teddy bears, chocolate, and suffering through the stifling atmosphere of love with all of the other sorry guys that are trapped at the restaurant with their respective dates.

Yet, we will all get to “enjoy” another fun-filled Valentine’s Day come Monday, for better or worse. Hopefully we can make the most of it despite how misguided the holiday is.

Michael Dearman is first year cynic hoping never to fall in love. He can be reached for comments at [email protected].