Once upon a time, I had my first Valentine, we'll call him Mark. Mark was also my first boyfriend, and so I thought to be, my first love. It's picturesque: the night before Valentine's Day I had my first kiss and the morning of Valentine's Day, I readied myself with full-faced makeup and an oozing love smile. Awaiting Mark at my door, I get a text: "Call me." Long story short, Mark was in love with my best friend... Happy Valentine's Day!

Two years later I'm on my way to Florida with my high school marching band, it's the dreaded day. We finally get to the hotel and head right to a pirate-themed interactive dinner show. My boyfriend at the time is at home and my friends know how miserable I am on the holiday. One of my friends — we'll call him Bruno — had asked to be my valentine. My heart perked up and it seemed as if my previous hatred for the chocolate-filled day has disappeared. But a while after we returned home from Florida, Bruno had stopped being my friend and I was sure the holiday was cursed.

The next year I partook in "Anti-Valentine's Day" with my friend — we'll call her Emily. Emily and I both had boyfriends at the time and would both be away on the actual holiday, so on the Friday before, we decked out in all black and pronounced ourselves a counter-culture. People everywhere looked at us, passing us in the hall, some even saying things to us. It was a denouncement of the awful bad-luck filled holiday and I was living for it. I never expected my opinion on the holiday to ever change, I believed that Valentine's Day was a concept, a grief-stricken day of pain and suffering for those like me.

It finally happened — the transition. At this time, I'm with the love of my life — we'll call him Alan. Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away and we have an expensive dinner planned for the two of us. I've learned that Valentine's Day is more or less just another day in the year. Associating all the negativity I did with the holiday only set me up for failure for five years in a row. Being with someone you know you're going to spend your life with is happiness in itself, but on Valentine's Day it is simply an excuse to pronounce your love. I wish everyone a happy early Valentine's Day with an abundance of Alans and a reduced amount of Steves.