The cost of love
As the clock ticks down on Valentine’s Day, frantic shoppers race through the supermarket in hopes of snagging the last $8 box of chocolates on the shelf or a bouquet of flowers that isn’t too expensive.
In a Google Form survey conducted by KentWired, Kent Students shared the costs of their Valentine’s Day plans. Their budgets ranged from $5 spent on a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to upwards of $1,000 spent on a weekend getaway.
Kent resident Demetrius Hammet has been planning a Valentine’s day celebration with his partner, Kiley Weis, for the last eight months.
“A while back I had planned out to get this Airbnb in Pittsburgh for the weekend of the 11th through the 13th. At the end of the stay we’re going to see Still Woozy in concert,” Hammet said.
A few of the surveyed students are in long-distance relationships, so their romantic plans included celebrating earlier in the semester, sending gifts in the mail and making food together over FaceTime. Junior public relations major Natalia Hernandez, whose partner has been deployed, decided to spend the day as if the two were together.
“Since he’s been deployed I decided to keep my mind distracted with all my favorite things,” Hernandez said. “I cooked for myself, finished my book, painted and I’m planning on taking a nice, long bubble bath to wind down later.”
Sophomore fashion merchandising major Cassandra Karcher said although she doesn’t have a partner to spend the day with this year, she plans to celebrate the holiday with friends. Following a trend called ‘Galentine’s Day,’ featured on the show “Parks & Recreation,” the group will host a brunch and photoshoot.
“I’m in Delta Gamma, so we planned a ‘Galentine’s Day’ photoshoot,” Karcher said. “We had to wake up early to decorate the house, but the work was divided equally, so it was really fun to spend time with my sisters decorating the house. After the photoshoot we had brunch together as a family.”
Kiara Rodriguez is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].