Valentine's Day at NHS: A Celebration of Love

On this Valentine’s Day, from the red, pink, and white roses sent out by the class of 2024, to the singing telegrams melodically sung by the show choir, love sure is in the air here at NHS.

“Valentine’s Day is a day for your loved ones and to show and express how much you care for somebody, even if it isn’t romantic.” explained junior Camilla Vera, who’s taken it upon herself to spread a little Valentine’s Day spirit by passing out churros and oreos to her peers and teachers. She adds, “Last year, I gave these out to the lunch ladies, and they were so nice about it. I love them.”

Passing out snacks is only one of the several things that the students are doing to celebrate the holiday. Senior Peter French said that he’s got a friend with a plan. “There’s this very dedicated person I know, who made a very nice card for a certain someone, and that person who they’re giving it to doesn’t typically receive Valentines, and was really bummed out about it, especially today, so I thought it was a really nice gesture.” 

“My brother got his girlfriend this teddy bear we saw at the mall that was made of these red roses,” said freshman Shannen Noel. “I had to pay for him, which was like, $50, but, like, happy Valentine’s Day.” 

Valentine’s Day is all about love, which is a subjective topic, resulting in mixed opinions on the holiday. Though the day is an opportunity to showcase a variety of different types of love, whether it be for a significant other, friends, or family, when one thinks of Valentine’s Day, images of happy couples kissing, holding hands, and going on dates are what probably comes to mind. Romance is often a key factor in the Valentine’s Day celebration. 

“I’m definitely into the whole romantic side of Valentine’s Day. Even when I was single, I just thought it was really sweet to see everyone in love,” Sophomore Alexis Guevara said. 

Sophomore Ko Amiths, on the other hand, shares a different, light-hearted opinion, “When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I like a more laid-back approach, because we have other special days, like Christmas,” they said, “and Halloween’s better, so, y’know.”

Being marketed as a day to commemorate the love between partners, Valentine’s Day can generate feelings of loneliness and being left out of a group among some people. To that, French leaves the single students of NHS with a final message, “Even if you don’t have a significant other, I think Valentine’s Day is a nice day to take into account all of the relationships you have, and to be thankful for your friends, family, and all that sort of stuff, because I feel like a lot of the time we can get lost in the shuffle and not realize the specialness of some of the relationships we have. It’s important to just take a step back and be thankful for the people you know.”