After spending last year’s Valentine’s Day without friends or plans due to the pandemic,  students are excited to finally be back together and celebrate Valentine’s Day this year. 

“This Valentine’s Day, we’re free, we can go out and not be so trapped inside the house,” 

sophomore Allison Estrada said.

Being in quarantine during Valentine’s Day was tough last year but students found a way to make the day work. People got very creative with how to celebrate Valentine’s Day 2021, with creative ways such as virtual movie night, sending a box full of small but meaningful gifts to a friend or taping hearts to someone’s door. 

Over the decades, the celebration of Valentine’s Day has changed. In the 1960s, couples would watch Valentine’s Day specials on TV and go to  roller skating rinks and discos. During the early 2000s, romcoms made their first appearance and became an annual Valentine’s Day event for some teenagers who didn’t have plans. It wasn’t until 2008 when Hallmark issued its first card series for gay and lesbian couples, that same-sex couples were finally accepted during the Valentine’s Day season. 

Senior Derek Calderon and junior Natalia Hernandez have been dating since October of 2021. Both students are going to spend this Valentine’s Day together with special plans for each other. Like most students, Calderon believes that Valentine’s Day is a day when you and your loved one celebrate the love that you have for each other. 

“Valentine’s day is a celebration of love. A day where you can appreciate your loved one or someone that you hold dear to your heart,” Calderon said. 

Preparations for Valentine’s Day are underway, some people are still skeptical about celebrating it during a surge in COVID-19 cases. According to the New York Times, instead of thinking of Valentine’s Day as a day of love, some think of this holiday as an unnecessary day where too much money is spent on unnecessary gifts. Event planners even noticed that there are not a lot of party or anniversary requests this year. 

“The last thing the world needs right now is a mass-market holiday that pressures people to spend money they don’t have on pink-and-red objects they don’t need…Event planners, normally barraged with inquiries about engagement parties and weddings this time of year, are noticing the lack of enthusiasm,” according to “Vetoing Valentine’s Day” published on Feb. 12 in the New York Times.

Candy 

Based on a recent survey, DPMHS students think that the best part of Valentine’s Day is candy. According to NECCO (New England Confectionery Co.), sales on candy hearts alone earn $1.8 billion in selling around 8 billion candy hearts. Other than the candy hearts, 42.9 % of DMPHS students’ favorite Valentine’s Day candy is Fun Dip. Thirty-eight point one percent of students also love a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day. 

Gifts

Now with students back in school with friends and their significant others, the United States is estimated to bring in $24 billion with Valentine’s Day sales. This is an increase of $6 billion from last year. According to Fox Business News, there will be a 32% increase in the amount of money people were planning to spend on chocolate this Valentine’s Day. 

With being in lockdown and not being able to see family, friends, or a significant other, students spent Valentine’s Day during quarantine either staying at home doing nothing or scrolling on their phones. Based on a survey, most students spent Valentine’s Day 2021 like it was another day. Sophomore Lauren Galvez didn’t do anything on Valentine’s Day due to the pandemic last year.

“I stayed on my phone being single all day,” Galvez said. 

Despite the rising COVID and Omicron cases, students are still excited to be finally back to in-person gift-giving and spending time with friends. Now, instead of spending Valentine’s Day at home, students are spending the day of love outside. 

“This Valentine’s Day, I look forward to being outside my house with my friends,” said one sophomore student, who commented on The Pearl Post.