By Kathryn Roth and Salma Zaghari, Staff Writers
On the day of love at River Hill High School, Valentine’s Day, which this year fell on Monday, February 14th, students walked in to see the well-decorated hallways by our hardworking SGA and the media center with love all around. Students appreciated the decorations but also still have their own, strong feelings about the “love day.”
The decorations were put up by means of a series of SGA-organized events. A lot of students, including volunteers who were not in SGA, helped make all of the hearts, strings, and any decorations that were up on Monday. Freshman SGA secretary, Estella Chen explains, “Our theme was ‘Be a sweetheart” and the goal was to have students write things they love about each other or their lives in general on sticky notes.”
Another attempt to spread the love was handing out Hershey Kisses “on the Friday before Valentine’s Day, so we had SGA members sit in for all the lunch shifts to pass out free chocolates to the freshman,” continued Estella. She added that their goal in total was to unify the freshman body, due to covid a lot of prior plans had also been canceled and that the opportunity was nice. Our SGA did a lot to organize and the freshman class showed their gratitude.
These acts of kindness from our SGA were very thoughtful, but for some students, they take the special day as they do every other day. “All I do is pick out a cute outfit and flaunt it at school,” explains Junior Adelaide Britten, “my friends and I might take pictures or something but overall, it is a throwaway holiday to me.” Friends can be sweeter than the actual candy you get on February 14th.
Teenagers can have mixed feelings around this time of year based on their relationship status. Junior Samantha Densel talks about how “Valentine’s day can be super cute. However, my boyfriend goes to a different school, so we weren’t about to hang out on Valentine’s day.” Everyone can be in different situations which is why the holiday has many sides to it.
Being in the spirit is achievable when you can “spend the day with someone you like and care for. However, for a lot of people, it’s a day where people in relationships showcase their significant others which turns this seemingly sweet day, bittersweet for many single people,” mentioned Senior Eric Rudo. Some use this day as their own “holiday” and take it to relax and focus on themselves.