Coming up to Valentine’s Day, we all know how it feels to be under pressure to make plans, screw it all and hang out with friends, or confront how you feel about that one intense situationship. However, in this turmoil, a new truth has come to light – we do it differently at Edinburgh.
Conversations heard around the Uni suggest that our dating pool is dry, and no doubt, with a 62 per cent to 38 per cent female-to-male ratio, it’s sometimes hard to be optimistic about prospects. Many people I know have resorted to Hinge or other alternatives (my personal advice is to dip into the Napier dating pool), but I actually think this lack of romantic hope makes Edinburgh unique, and a wonderful place to make life-long friends.
Recently, some of my friends suggested doing a Galentine’s dinner on the 14th, and after feeling so much FOMO that I threatened to break up with my boyfriend, I realised how lucky I am to be in a university environment that prioritises friendship. Many others I talk to in universities around the country seem to feel much more pressure to find romantic partners. While not negating that, I think everyone ought to bring their friends more to the forefront of their love lives.
Rather than being annoyed that Valentine’s Day is an annoying “love” holiday, I want all of us to realise what’s right in front of us – the possibility for our university experience to be characterised by amazing times with friends rather than crying over someone in your bedroom or getting ghosted on dating apps. I want to see more Palentine’s parties going on this year!
We can complain as much as we like that Edinburgh is so un-romantic, but we just need to change our definition of romance.
Illustration by Berenika Murray