Urban Dictionary affectionately refers to Valentine’s Day as “a corporate conspiracy conceived by candy makers, rose growers, lingerie stores and jewelers to get people to spend money on junk.”

Whether you call it Valentine’s Day, the Hallmark Holiday, or Singles Awareness Day, there’s no avoiding that it’s here.

If you’re lucky enough to have a significant other, Valentine’s Day can be great. It’s a day when the two of you spend quality time together, exchange corny little gifts ,and are extra nice to each other because it’s too much of an effort to be nice to each other all the other days.

Valentine’s Day can also be great if you’re a guy — I’m sure they love all of the added pressure to make their girl feel extra special or suffer the consequences later on.

If you’re single (and according to the poll on the NWN homepage – 72% of you are), Valentine’s Day just really kind of sucks. Girls are dressed up for this “special occasion” in miniskirts and tank tops, because that just screams “holiday spirit.” They’re carrying around single roses and oversized teddy bears and blushing down the halls, thinking of how cute their boyfriends are for doing all of these special things for them, when really, it’s not an act of kindness. It’s a simple obligation because everybody knows that a guy who doesn’t get his girl anything for Valentine’s Day is – for lack of a better word – a complete and utter jerk.

Let me be clear: I’m not going to lie; if I had a boyfriend, or if I had a “thing” with someone, I would be just as excited as the next girl about the holiday. I would have probably already bought those ridiculous cards and a box of chocolates for my significant other, granted he wasn’t a lying cheater, but the bottom line is that I don’t have a boyfriend, so I deserve to be as bitter and annoyed about Valentine’s Day as I want, thank you very much.

The truth is everyone wants someone to make them feel special on Valentine’s Day, and that’s a fact. I’m not going to pretend to be the bigger person and say that I’m happy that all these girls found their “one and only,” (and good luck to everyone that thinks that their high school relationship is going to last) because I’m not. I must admit that it’s going to be hard not to rip the roses from these girls’ hands, shake them, and scream “wake up!” this year, but instead, I’ll just have to grin and bear it as couples grope each other down the halls a little more than usual on this dreadful day.

The sad truth is that anyone’s who’s single would agree that Valentine’s Day is a bit of a letdown. Even if you know that you have no one to buy you some chocolates or a nice card, there’s always a little piece of you that hopes that someone will be thoughtful enough to remember to send you a crush, or maybe even a rose. Maybe this year you’ll even get a secret admirer just like in the movies that set very unrealistic expectations about love and living happily ever after.

In the words of Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) of “500 Days of Summer:”

“‘Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart, I love you.’ Isn’t that sweet? Ain’t love grand? This is exactly what I’m talking about. What does that even mean, love? Do you know? Do you? Anybody? It’s these cards, and the movies and the pop songs, they’re to blame for all the lies and the heartache, everything.”

As Tom so eloquently put it, pop culture makes Valentine’s Day into a fun little holiday, and sure, it’s great when you’re in kindergarten and have Valentine’s Day parties, and everyone gets a heart-shaped stocking with an assortment of cute little chocolates and cheesy cards. But once you get older, things aren’t as sweet anymore. Reality hits you. And suddenly, all your friends have boyfriends, and you’re the single one, which is no fun at all.

The fact that the school is promoting “send a crush to your crush” and a rose sale doesn’t help much either because, to be honest, it just leaves people who don’t have anything to show for Valentine’s Day feeling like crap. It makes people super aware of just how single they are, hence the nickname “single awareness day.”

People look forward to Valentine’s Day so much because it’s in our nature to feel wanted (I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve seen “Hunter Hayes, I wish you would make me feel wanted” on my Twitter feed, referring to his popular country song “Wanted.”) There’s no doubt that Instagram will be full of pictures of bouquets, teddy bears, and Tiffany’s necklaces. Humans — especially teenage girls — are inherently narcissistic. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not guilty of the exact things that I’m complaining about. All I’m saying is that it’s hard not to have someone make you feel special on Valentine’s Day.

Despite the fact that I am obviously against and annoyed with Valentine’s Day, I’m not going to sit at home and stuff my face with chocolates that I bought for myself.

For anyone out there who’s convinced that they’re forever alone, try to do something about it. Don’t feel sorry for yourself — find other people to bond with over your singleness. You could even sit here and read my column and laugh at how incredibly bitter and pessimistic I’m being, or you could spend some time with your best friend for a girls’ night like I’m planning on doing.

The bottom line is that everyone deserves to feel special on Valentine’s Day. So, this year, in the name of good ol’ Saint Valentine, I challenge you to take the extra step and reach out to someone to make them feel special, no matter how stupid and corny Valentine’s Day is. A card from a secret admirer or a Hershey’s kiss could go a long way.

Even if you don’t, junior Esteban Gavilanez sees a silver lining: the best day is not Valentine’s Day, but the day after, when the chocolate is on sale.

See, Niles West? At least there’s one thing to look forward to!