Valentine’s Day does a lot of funny things. It sets off a weird chain reaction of emotions in a lot of people. The commercialization of this “holiday” makes a lot of people feel inadequate if they are not settled into a stable relationship. With the excess of commercials proclaiming what products you can purchase for the one you love, not having one to love can be very upsetting. I can fully understand this viewpoint.

Although I can sympathize with V-Day haters, I am absolutely not one of them. I find society’s fixation on long term permanent relationships to be rather weird and stifling. At this tender age of 21, I barely know who I am, much less who I am going to spend the rest of my life with. It would be unfair to foist my undeveloped personality and undecided future on some unsuspecting person. The lack of a long term or serious relationship is an opportunity to explore my boundaries as a person. Besides, when we imagine looking back on college memories, none of us imagines our time at Colgate with one person. We imagine our friends, that rowdy pack of people who are always there to comfort, entertain and laugh with us. What would the young college kid do without his or her posse? He or she would be lost.

This Valentine’s Day, instead of bemoaning our lack of the perfect partner, we should celebrate the group of friends that keeps us buoyant. I am very grateful for the handful of Valentines who have ensured that my four years here have been a delight and a joy to behold. I have some suggestions for a group Valentine’s Day that will make for a very nice Saturday night. Remember that any of these ideas may be enhanced with the addition of alcohol.

I cannot speak highly enough to the concept of the fondue party. It is laughably simple to make a pot of both cheese and chocolate fondue. Invite over ten of your favorite people and let it ride. There is no possible way you cannot have fun with the terrible “That’s what she said jokes” involving hot liquids and skewers.

Movie and Ben and Jerry’s night. Have all of your chick friends over and make sure everyone brings over their favorite pint of B&J’s to watch something funny. I would opt for anything with Seth Rogen in it. This would absolutely be an appropriate time to play flair bar tender and get together some Cosmos or Lemon Drops.

Go sledding! If some of your posse are booked for Saturday night, I highly recommend going outside and embracing the weather that afternoon. Go sledding, have a snowball fight, build a fort and then go home and have hot chocolate. I have found that very few people on this campus appreciate the value of an outdoor romp, and this would be a nice time of year to bond over the weather. If you are lucky enough to have access, you should maybe try ice skating on Lake Morraine, or perhaps even that tiny little side channel on Taylor Lake. It always gets frozen, although the middle stays wet. This may or may not be approved by Campus Safety, so be cautious.

Whatever you do, do not forget to disburse Valentines to your friends. Get some “Kappa Kisses” or a Swinging Gates gram or make cookies to put in everyone’s mailbox. Let your friends know how much you appreciate them.