A group of Nicholls students is offering an alternative to the usual Valentine’s Day celebration on Feb. 18 in place of the traditional Feb. 14 holiday.Students from different departments around campus are preparing for the celebration that some have dubbed “Single Awareness Day” in lieu of Valentine’s Day.

“I think it’s a day when single girls can come together and celebrate the fact that they don’t have to be in a relationship to share love,” Miriam Davis, psychology senior from Tulsa, Okla., said. “There is the love of their friends and the love of God.”

Davis said that this is not the first time that she has taken part in this tradition and is glad to have met others at Nicholls who are joining in the event. As for the specifics of the evening, Davis said it would be left up to the majority of the group.

“It could be going to see a movie, dinner, bowling or having coffee,” Davis said. “It’s just pretty much whatever everyone wants to do.”

The day is not exclusively a celebration for the single girls on campus. There are also a number of guys who will partake in the event.

Joshua Maille, freshman from Holden, said he is not yet certain what the group will be doing, but he will definitely be taking part. He said that the day is a statement about having fun in contrast to something commercialized.

“We are doing this to symbolize that you can have fun without being in a relationship,” Maille said. “This is going against a ‘Hallmark Holiday’. “

Maille also said this night celebrates the sense of freedom that being single gives people and that others in a relationship do not have.

“This commiserates the fact that single people can go out and do something without worrying about checking in with somebody,” Maille said.

Brandon Queen, freshman from Thibodaux, said the night is about a bunch of friends getting together to have a great time.

“I like not having chains attached to me,” Queen said. “I don’t have someone telling me when to go out, who I can go out with or who I can be friends with on Facebook.”

Queen said this will be a day of relaxation after Mardi Gras, and it would be nice to see some other students celebrate with them.