Saint Valentine’s day. The holiday, filled with joy, appreciation, and most importantly, Love. It’s that time of year where everybody (mainly couples) get together to celebrate their affection for one another. Regardless if someone has a significant other to celebrate with, anyone can enjoy the holiday to its fullest extent. They can show appreciation by giving flowers, chocolates, and cute little cards that you’d find pretty quickly at your local CVS. However, a few questions come up when thinking about this holiday. How did it start? How did it get its meaning? And most importantly, how do Bard students feel about it? Well, I’m most definitely glad you asked. In order to completely understand everything, we need to go way back, about 600 years ago.
Although the exact history of this holiday is shrouded in mystery, we can look at the legend that laid the fundamental principles of this holiday. One legend explains that Valentine was a priest that resided in ancient Rome. However, the emperor Claudius II believed that young men who weren’t married or had children were the best performing soldiers. Due to this belief, he decided to outlaw all marriages for young men. As this law took effect, Valentine couldn’t begin to fathom the injustice implemented by the Emperor. Valentine then began to marry young lovers in secret. Unfortunately, Valentine would soon be caught. His defiance of Cladius II earned him a spot on the death penalty. Supposedly, as he was awaiting his bitter end, he may have fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter, who would visit him frequently in his prison cell. He may have also sent the first valentine, a letter to the woman he fell in love with.
Now, enough of the boring history. What’s Valentine’s Day like at Bard? Luckily, I was able to conduct an interview with a student. His name is Zayn Ekwaneen, a Year One student. I asked him a series of questions regarding the holiday and how he felt about it.
Q:What does Valentine’s Day mean to you?
A: It’s a day where couples can express their love towards each other.
Q:Do you have a Valentine?
A:No.
Q:What do you think of Valentine’s day at Bard?
A: It can be a nice idea for couples at Bard to do that for each other, and even for people who do not.
Q: Have you ever done something special for Valentine’s Day?
A: I have not.
Thank you Zayn for participating in this questionnaire!
Valentine’s day is an extremely special and precious holiday for so many people around the world. From its fascinating history to its little customs and traditions, the holiday can’t be associated with anything else but love and joy.