Whether single, in a relationship, or anywhere in between, students seem less than thrilled about St. Valentine’s Day: it’s a capitalist racket; it puts pressure on couples and ostracizes singletons; candy rots your teeth and Hallmark cards are trite. We sympathize, but would like to counter these complaints by offering a more inclusive notion of Valentine’s Day. Why not see the day as an opportunity to appreciate all of the things we love? Here are a few Wes people, places, and general notions we love, adore, and would like to shower with candy hearts.
The University Staff: We love that you put up with us surly, stressed-out students on a daily basis, taking the time out of your busy workday schedules to give us a smile and ask about our day. You keep this school running.
Student Support Structures: We love that services like 8-to-8, WesWell, and the writing and math workshops help students feel that much more comfortable physically, emotionally, and academically. They help to re-center the disorienting world of college life.
Wesleyan Culture: We love that, at any given time, five different friends ask you to attend their football game, dance performance, or protest rally. And, when attending said events, you can dress in a three piece suit or polka-dotted leotard and know that those friends will respond with good-natured smiles, not dismissive eye-rolls.
Community Outreach Programs: We love that you challenge us to look beyond ourselves and see a wide world full of promise, problems, and people waiting to be known. You offer us the opportunities to change the world, one day at a time.
Professors: We love that you can make thought-altering connections between academic research and the contemporary world during class, and still find time to get to know us one on one. And the time you gave us that extension the night before? Yeah, that was awesome.
Beautiful Places on Campus: We love…well, you know what we mean: Long Lane, Foss Hill, the snow on the trees next to College Row, watching the sun set at Indian Hill Cemetery, the Butts’ tunnels, and that special place only you know about.
Wesleyan: we love you.
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