Valentine's Day has the same routines every year: flower delivery companies are on their feet, grocery stores restock their shelves with bags of candy and Romeos and Juliets swoon over their significant others. 

However, this holiday of love isn't always a romantic affair for those who see through the built up facade of the holiday's consumeristic and judgemental tendencies that have turned a sweet sentiment into a photo-op. Senior business and administration major Jaelyn Duran told The Panther she feels like Valentine’s Day has strayed from its intended meaning.

“I feel like nowadays Valentine's Day has become stigmatized to be this huge holiday that is all about showing off the best gifts and the best relationships,” Duran said. 

Duran said that she supports showing love for one another but does not see why there has to be one day where people have to go overboard in showing all their love for someone. 

“It's just a little extra,” Duran said. “I could totally do without Valentine's Day. I think people can get those gifts and flowers on another basis. I don't understand why there has to be one significant day for it.”

In fact, myths of St. Valentine imply that his romantic gestures never actually came with a side of chocolate, flowers or any gifts for that matter. A mere love note signed “From your Valentine” was, at best, all he gave to the one he loved. 

Other myths state that St. Valentine was a priest who married couples in secret to rebel against Emperor Claudius II when he made it illegal for young men to get married. These secret nuptials again did not come with any pink or red pleasantries from Target. 

So how did a holiday based on a man who purely represented love turn into a holiday in which the average person would spend $175 to $210? 

Junior creative producing major Sayre Crabtree said she questions this notion as someone who would rather get doused with tokens of love any day but on Feb. 14. 

“I feel like the guy doesn't actually want to (give me chocolate and flowers) necessarily and it's just a social pressure (on Valentine’s Day),” Crabtree said. “If you take everything he does on Valentine's Day and put it on any other day, I would say it's the best thing ever."

For Crabtree, it has been a challenge to match her significant other's Valentine's offerings with the stress of not wanting to disappoint the other by getting them less than what they give her. 

“Sometimes I would go all out, but then the guy did less than me and then I'm kind of offended and pissed off for the day,” Crabtree said. “I’ve also been in the situation where I didn't do much and then I kind of felt bad because he went way further than I did. I don't want to have the talk either because in some relationships, people talk about it ahead of time. That's completely not for me. Be proud of me for defining the relationship. I'm not having another talk every year about what we are doing for Valentine's Day.”

Even when Crabtree was a child, she said Valentine’s Day was stressful because of the huge emphasis put on giving classmates Valentine's Day gifts. 

"It was very anxiety-ridden to write people a note when I didn’t like them, and then if I did really like them, I want them to know they're special,” Crabtree said. “And my parents were not prepared, so my Valentine's were literally like a piece of printer paper I would color with a crayon.”

Duran said she personally did not mind Valentine's Day as a child, but said the holiday has created more issues for her as an adult. 

“Valentine's Day seemed so fun and easy to just do little cards and candy and share your love and appreciation for others around you as a kid,” Duran said. “Now, I feel like because of social media, it's a lot of showing off and having the biggest and best thing.” 

With the original St. Valentine being all about spreading love, Duran said she wants the holiday to be taken back to its origins and focus on the act of expressing your gratitude, not lust for unrealistic relationship expectations. 

“I just think it should really just be about love in general," Duran said. "And I feel like now like today it's all about being in a relationship and sometimes relationships aren't for everyone." 

The epic Valentine's Day expectation can often make people feel alone on a holiday all about love, which Duran said should not be the case. 

“I think (Valentine’s Day) definitely makes singles feel bad unintentionally," Duran said. "Some people are just on different paths of life and aren’t in a relationship. I feel like Valentine's sometimes discredits that and makes you feel alone. That’s where I personally like to turn it around and take that as a compliment in the fact that you don't need somebody. All you need is yourself."