Ok so maybe I’m not an old fogey yet but I sure feel like one when I see all you young whippersnappers coming in to the office for your first visit to Babson all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Plus I’ve always wanted to write one of those “Here’s-My-Advice-Dear-Abby” blog entries.

With Valentine’s Day coming up paired with feeling old and wise I have been in one of those pondering moods today so I wanted to give you food for thought. As I walk around campus with bunches of different Valentine related activities going on all we hear every year is either how much people love the holiday if they have a special someone to celebrate with or how much people hate the holiday if they’re single and every year I try to change peoples’ outlook.

So here’s my 2 cents…I don’t think you should look at it as a holiday specficially meant for people with a significant other to celebrate it with, it’s much more fun and rewarding to think of it as a holiday to celebrate all those people that you love and that love you. It should be a holiday to brighten someone’s day by letting them know what they mean to you whether they are a boyfriend/girlfriend or not. Think about all your friends who love you like family and your family who love you more than anything else in the world. So this valentine’s day whether you have a special someone to celebrate with or not, take a couple minutes out of your day to send your mom some flowers or a hand made card that looks like it was made by you when you were 4. Whip out some of those fun little cartoon valentine’s cards with disney characters on them like you used to use back in elementary school to give out to your friends when they least expect it during the day to tell them you were thinking of them. Send an ecard to someone you haven’t talked to in a while that you want to reconnect with. Whoever it is and however you do it let someone know you love them this Valentine’s Day and if karma really works then someone will do the same for you.

So remember this slogan I just made up because that’s what old people do in our spare time…along with reading newspapers and watching The Price Is Right/Jeopardy…

“Don’t be a scrooge or you will have a terrible Valentine’s Day”

…Ok nobody said slogans have to rhyme, they just have to get the message across. I never said I was applying to jobs as a Hallmark Card Sloganizer.

Have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Justin

P.S. send all your valentine’s day messages for me to jbrooks1@babson.edu and I will try to send back a sweet personalized Valentine’s slogan!