Celebrating an Un-Valentine’s Day in College
by Rayma Montero

When I wander around campus and its hard to ignore the good-looking skaterboys, the guys in the gym flexing their abs, the mysterious guy in the library who makes reading look sexy, the fun international students who win your heart and then leave with it, I realize I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment. However, I soon think of the main reason why I am single: UCSB – School has officially taken over my life.

Apart from the pressures of school, the priorities of a college student are a bit different from the rest of society. For a college student, getting drunk and passing out in random places is considered a right of passage. Also, short term dating or “flings” are vital for our full experience. However, this lifestyle comes with some costs, and these are realized on that special day designated for love, famously known as “Valentine’s Day.”

Valentine’s Day has dual personalities: one is happy and romantic, and the other is lonely and depressed. For the lonely and depressed, we often wonder why we can’t be those people molesting each other with affection on campus, or those studying together, only to make eye contact, flirt, and then make out again after they’re done. It must be nice for those doing the deed, but for the rest of us it is a bit distracting, not to mention annoying when we’re trying to study and we hear loud saliva wrestling going on next to us.

Even though being single sucks when you seem to be surrounded by all these happy couples, Singles don’t have the common stresses of arguments, or dealing with jealousy, especially in school! These issues can really drive a person insane and have a huge impact on their school performance. Also, looking to buy your partner the perfect gift can be quite stressful, especially on Valentine’s Day. For example, “I’m looking at this expensive, non-refundable beautiful necklace, but what if she doesn’t like gold jewelry?” Or, “I want to get him a jersey, but I forgot what football team he’s obsessed with, the Giants or the Patriots?” It’s too much work keeping up with all these different fixations.

I do have my moments of romantic day dreaming. Sometimes I wish I had a boyfriend to cuddle and chill with at the end of a stressful college day, an oily massage here and there, and someone to enjoy a bottle of fine wine on those beach sunsets. College is about living many experiences at once, and although I would be tempted to include the relationship experience in this package, UCSB literally snaps me out of it. It can be a bit depressing not to have a Valentine on this day, but all in all it is another good excuse for the majority of us singles to throw a great party, or go to downtown and have another one of those blurry hook ups. Celebrating the un-valentine is what’s happening.