Approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas. But what does the UNH student body think of the occasion?

Some UNH students lean toward renouncing this romance-related holiday.  Freshman Jake Capraro called Valentine’s Day “Pointless. Overrated. Commercial. If you have a girlfriend you should be nice to her every day.”

Capraro said his reasoning lies in the fact that, “it’s commercial. You shouldn’t have to buy all this stuff on a random day. It’s just another day.”

Commercialization was a common theme.

Megan Roche, a sophomore, said, “I think people hype it up too much. For some people it can be very meaningful, but especially mainstream media and a lot of advertisements just turn it into a meaningless means of selling you things that you don’t need.”

“I’m a slightly cynical human being. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve never had a Valentine’s Day when I’ve been dating before and I get really annoyed when my friends will parade their little Valentine’s gifts around and sometimes mock me for not having someone,” she said.

She continued on to add that part of her rationalization was also based on commercialism, adding, “There are many companies that really do oversell Valentine’s Day and rob it of any meaning.”

Still, some are able to find the fun side of Valentine’s Day, whether or not they are romantically involved. Junior Kira Clark-Viklund said that for her, “It’s just a holiday. It’s fun, even if you don’t have a date. I still enjoy eating candy.”

In fact, a common opinion was that Valentine’s Day is no longer the black and white of either uber-romantic or a day of desperation, but a day to enjoy life.

“I used to not like it as much but I realized it’s just another reason to celebrate. Someone special can just be a friend,” said Freshman Mary McLamb. Hanging out with friends for the evening was a favorite among singles who weren’t disenchanted with the holiday. Viklund said her plan is to, “Hang out with friends. It’s not like I’d do anything special just because it’s Valentine’s Day, unless I had a date.”

“This Valentine’s day I’m single, so me and a bunch of my girlfriends are doing Galentine’s Day. We’re all giving each other gifts and chocolate and watch cute movies together,” McLamb said.