Valentine’s Day is a great day as long as its focus stays on Cupid’s cloud and not on Hallmark’s haven.Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. The commercialism behind Valentine’s Day has us convinced that it is nothing more than a way for Hallmark to make money from card sales and boxes of mediocre candies.

But why can’t it just be a day set aside for those in relationships to celebrate their love?

With the hustle and bustle of a typical day, it is hard to find time with the ones we love. Many of us look forward to the end of the week, to spend more than just a rushed “I love you” followed by a door slam. An annual day of celebrating our love with another person is better spent focusing on our true feelings, rather than thoughts of disgust for card companies.

Many of you probably think it is crazy to even like Valentine’s Day. I myself was rather cynical about the holiday until last year – my first Valentine’s Day after getting engaged. It was then that I could finally see past the many all-too-tangible candy hearts and stuffed teddy bears and see the true meaning behind the holiday.

My husband and I were married Dec. 18, 2005, and we can’t wait to celebrate our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple.

One way to prevent the commercialism of Valentine’s Day from ruining its true meaning is to give gifts that are more original than the all-too-trite box of mediocre candy. Last year, my husband took me out to a fancy restaurant and bought me a little fire-bellied toad the next day, which I named Cupid. Being a girl who loves animals, I found it to be the sweetest gesture.

I want everyone out there who is single to know that it took me many years to finally see the true meaning behind Valentine’s Day. My husband and I have both spent many Valentine’s Days wishing by the minute that Feb. 15 would roll around.

Now that we both have found each other and are happily married, we find it much easier to see that there is no better feeling than to have found true love.

It may seem now to those of you who are single that you are spending your Valentine’s Day looking through the window of a candy store, only you are stuck outside in the cold. But one day your day will come that you will feel like you have not only been let inside the store, but also you have found yourself lost inside your own paradise.

Becky Schiffer is a junior biology major from Gaithersburg, Md.