One of the most influential figures of my freshman year was then-senior Kinsey Stubblefield. Kinsey was the opinions editor for The Bison, and after my very first Bison meeting, she talked to me and wrote her number down on a Post-it Note (which I still have glued in my scrapbook), which was a super nice move to the freshman who didn\u2019t know anyone on staff. She was opinionated, confident and cool, basically the opposite of freshman year me, and I loved her to death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kinsey\u2019s column, which she titled \u201cLittle but Loud,\u201d was always well-written, but one opinion of hers that stood out to me then was her vehement love for Valentine\u2019s Day (see \u201cFor the love of tunes,\u201d from the Feb. 14, 2020, issue of The Bison). As a former Valentine\u2019s Day hater, I thought it funny that she liked the silly holiday so much. In high school, it never held much weight for me, and as a perpetually single teenager who didn\u2019t like much of anything, that opinion made sense. But Kinsey\u2019s opinion, that Valentine\u2019s Day was a holiday to \u201ccelebrate all kinds of love,\u201d helped shift my perspective to become a reformed Valentine\u2019s Day lover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That shift in perspective has been present in our culture, too. Valentine\u2019s Day is not just for couples anymore. I think it\u2019s clear that this holiday has become, as Kinsey wrote, about \u201cappreciating those you love and who love you and who you love in return.\u201d The popularization of things like \u201cGalentine\u2019s Day\u201d is also selling this holiday as one that doesn\u2019t have to be romantic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s another issue people find with the holiday: the commercialization of it, how it\u2019s being sold to us in the form of flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals \u2014 the list goes on. As someone with gift-giving as one of my top love languages, this is definitely something I struggle with. But Valentine\u2019s is an easy holiday to make homemade gifts for, whether it\u2019s a handwritten card or something you bake or a personalized playlist for someone. My boyfriend of three years made me roses out of newspapers this year. (Is that not the cutest thing ever? One even had Dr. Michael Claxton\u2019s face on it.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I digress. Back to celebrating the holiday itself. You might say, \u201cBut Emma, shouldn\u2019t I be showing my love to these people who are special to me year round?\u201d To which I say of course! Valentine\u2019s Day just gives us a good excuse to make a special occasion of it, to remind our loved ones of our love for them, to wear pink and heart print tights, to buy people flowers and to celebrate love for a day. I think it\u2019s adorable that we have a holiday where we have reason to do all of that, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So whether you celebrated Valentine\u2019s Day with your significant other, or with your friends, or with your club or just by yourself, I hope you found many reasons to show love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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