COMMENTARY

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Valentine’s Day: Why do we need this day?

Janelle Silverman

As the second week of February rolls around, we look and see it is that time of year again. The heart decorations, mushy cards, candy, flowers and Cupid’s arrows either hitting or missing their target of true love.

Whether single or in a relationship, the holiday just sets off a bad vibe.

Maybe I am alone in my convictions this holiday is depressing and pointless, or perhaps there are other people out there who share my unenthusiastic view of Feb. 14.

To me, Valentine’s Day is just an excuse for all the card shops and novelty stores around the country to give men and women a reason to spend money.

If you really care about someone, why should there be only one specific day out of the year to let him or her know?

Of course, like every other holiday there is some sort of history behind Valentine’s Day. However, it is no surprise no one really knows the real reason we celebrate it.

For example, there is the tale of St. Valentine, a priest who performed secret marriages that were outlawed by the authority and therefore was thrown into jail for helping young lovers.

If this tale is true, where does Cupid come in? Why do we send each other candy and flowers or sentimental cards?

The corny poems and conversation hearts are enough to make anyone avoid love and relationships at all costs. Valentine’s Day encourages the experience of revealing your feelings for someone who obviously does not reciprocate those same feelings of love or lust. The fact you were shot down on the “love day” of the year makes you feel even worse than you would on any other normal day.

I hated this holiday even more as a child when we were required to give every person in the class a valentine card, even if you hated their guts. Doesn’t that completely go against everything this day is supposed to be about?

This may sound like I am completely against true love and spending time with that one person who makes you feel wonderful about yourself. That is far from the truth.

I do not need a special day to tell someone I love them or send them gifts or go out to dinner. There are 364 other days of the year in which I try just as hard to show my affection.

Valentine’s Day just makes people in relationships feel obligated to go out and spend money on each other and say “I love you” at all the right times and makes those who are single feel like the loneliest people on the planet.

To those of you who enjoy Feb. 14, may you find your true love or celebrate with the one you are with.

To those who would rather forget this day exists, may you find a way to get through it happy, unaffected and glad that one more year must pass before Cupid strikes again.

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Internships have their good, bad points

Kristina Egger

In theory, participating in a summer internship program is a wonderful idea. In contrast, to participate in an internship you first have to find one that suits you. Next, you have to decide if you can afford it. Then you have to compile a resume, interview for the position and pray that someone lets you in the door.

If you do your job well, interning can boost your resume, open job opportunities and help prepare you for your future career; at least, that’s what they say.

Aside from the aforementioned reasons, a summer internship would help clarify what I want to do when I graduate. Hopefully the experience of living and working in a new environment would assist me in determining a direction for my life. More importantly, in the midst of a soft job market, interning may be the deciding factor as to whether or not I am extended a decent job offer after graduation.

On the downside, first there is the time one must spend to find an internship. If you are fortunate enough that your parents already have connections in your field of study, thank your lucky stars. The rest of us will have to spend hours surrounded by manila envelopes, sticky tabs and e-mail addresses we anxiously scribbled on the back of old receipts, searching for a job. We are faced with dead end after dead end after dead end. Then maybe we’ll find something that works out.

Even if you are finally blessed with an internship, you have to decide if you can afford it. Many internships are unpaid, because experience is all the payment you need, right? Well, that is not exactly true when you are stuck paying rent at two places. You could always try to find a summer subleaser, but do you really want a stranger living in your room? Do you want to move all of your stuff out for the summer only to have to move it all back in? If you decide to sublease, you then have to spend the time to find someone to take your spot.

This goes without mention of the credit card bills you wanted to pay off this summer by working, in an attempt to harness your debt before graduation. What do you do about the summer school classes you wanted to take in order to graduate on time? When you talk to a counselor about the exciting world of internships, these factors aren’t really taken into consideration.

Any amount of experience that you can take with you into the job market is good experience. I don’t mean to complain, but I wish it didn’t all have to be so difficult.