I spent my last Valentine’s Day third wheeling my two best friends, sophomore Brooke Bledsoe and alumni Paulino Ortiz.

I would have been perfectly happy spending the day at home watching Netflix by myself, but they dragged me along with them on their date, saying that I should not be alone on Valentine’s Day.

We ate dinner at Malone’s, and it honestly was kind of upsetting being surrounded by happy couples.

To my left there was a teenage couple sitting on the same side of the booth holding hands that made me want to gag, compared to the elderly couple in front of me that was happily enjoying their meal that made my heart hurt out of joy.

There was a red gift bag sitting on their table; this also made me smile because of how they still were so kind even after being together for so long.

After we finished eating, Paulino paid for Brooke’s meal, and he ended up paying for my meal as well so that I felt loved.

This year, I plan on being with the two again because I enjoy their company. Plus, I might get another free meal out of it.

Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll get to pick the restaurant, but that may be pushing my luck.

I’m just begging that we are not surrounded by overly-affectionate couples again.

Even if I don’t spend Valentine’s Day with them this year, I know I’m going to spend it with other close friend or maybe even family.

Last year, I was scrolling through my Instagram and Twitter timelines that were filled with nothing but pictures of all of the couples.

The couples that had been dating for longer amounts of time posted collages of their past experiences together along with how they were spending the day.

The new couples posted pictures together with the gifts that were exchanged. As I was scrolling through, it was hard to not roll my eyes in discontent.

There were also posts of other single people posting pictures or statuses about how they were alone and watching movies by themselves.

It made me glad that I was spending the day with friends instead of sitting in my room surrounded by food.

Maybe this Valentine’s Day I will jokingly post a collage with the Netflix logo and pictures with Brooke and Paulino.

To me, that’s the worst part of Valentine’s Day: couples can profess their love for one another on any day of the year, so having a special holiday for it is kind of pointless to me.

Maybe if I wasn’t single I wouldn’t feel that way.  Last Valentine’s Day, Paulino, Brooke and I went back to the Bledsoe’s house to watch movies.Since I was dragged along with them, they gave me the honor of picking the movies to watch.

Of course, I did not pick a romantic movie because I did not need yet another reminder of the fact that I was single.

With my experience from last year, I know that Valentine’s Day should not be a day for single people to mourn over their loneliness, but for them to rejoice in the fact that they do not have to waste their time and money on someone else.

Despite the fact that Valentine’s Day does make me feel somewhat lonely and disgusted, I don’t really mind it.

For me, it is just like any other day I would spend with my friends.

Personally, I like being single, but it does suck on days like Valentine’s Day because couples surround you.

To all of the other single people: be glad you are single.

Being alone on Valentine’s Day is nothing to stress over. Sometime’s it’s nice to have alone time and to  not worry about spending any money on your significant other.

Go ahead and spend money on yourself instead. You should go hang out with friends. It would also be fun to spend time with you’re parents or siblings.

It’s better than siting alone on Valentine’s Day wondering where you went wrong.

After Valentine’s Day has passed, go purchase all of the leftover discount candy just to treat yourself on just how well you handled the holiday.