John Alex Nunnery

Editor

Valentine’s Day is the latest, and hopefully, one of the last holidays to be affected by the pandemic. Many students who have been looking forward to spending the holiday with their significant other or just celebrating themselves had to change their plans.

“Me and my boyfriend usually go out to eat, but we had to change our plans because of COVID,” said Nicole Rensink, a junior Kinesiology major at Mississippi University for Women. “Some restaurants follow the guidelines, and some don’t, which is really annoying to me because I work at a restaurant back home, and I know how it’s supposed to work.”

Even when some couples did make a date at a place that followed the CDC guidelines to the letter, there was another problem facing this Valentine’s Day. On top of everything else that was happening, an unexpected winter storm hit Mississippi. It began freezing the roads around dinner time on Feb.14 when many people had planned to have their dates.

“We were going to go to Umi’s, but they were closed because of the storm,” said Elizabeth Leach, a junior Business Administration major at The W. “But my boyfriend still gave me really pretty red roses and a Reese’s chocolate heart because that is my favorite candy!”

Although COVID changed some people’s Valentine plans, they still tried to make the best of it. Some enjoyed a day bundled up inside, just spending time indoors instead of risking going out somewhere, or just chatted a few minutes on the phone with their significant others.

“COVID did change plans. Usually during Valentine’s I like to go out somewhere, like go out to eat, but COVID is scary, so we didn’t want to go out,” said Ashley Bunn, a junior Manager of Information Systems major at The W said. “We honestly just stayed at the house instead, played games, and did some homework.”

While many people had to change their plans whether because of COVID or the storm, most persisted to make the holiday at least a decent one, even if it had to be more unorthodox than usual. With the vaccines being distributed, things are looking optimistic for those looking to have a more normal Valentine’s Day next year.