Valentine’s is no longer a day we focus on sappy romance between lovers.

Now it’s a day to celebrate and cherish the love you have for your friends, family and yourself.

“I buy myself flowers, chocolates and take myself out for a movie and a meal,” Samantha Tolon, junior radio and television major at Texas A&M Commerce wrote in an email.

Why sit alone and be upset about being single when I can enjoy time for myself? Tolon wrote.

“I don’t know if that’s normal, but it beats crying at the house over a guy that doesn’t exist,” Tolon wrote.

Tolon is one of the 14 percent of American women that purchase gifts for themselves on Valentine’s Day, according to stasticbrain.com. And with 50 percent of adults being single on Valentine’s Day, the number of women and men buying gifts for themselves will surely increase, according to thedatereport.com

“If no one else will do it, I’ll do it for myself,” Tolon wrote.

Paola Estrada, a Texas Wesleyan junior psychology major from El Salvador, plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her friends.

“We’re probably going to meet up and I’ll give them both gifts from me,” Estrada said.

Estrada and her friends decided to celebrate the day with secret Valentine’s gift giving, similar to the way they celebrated in elementary school in El Salvador.

“In school, everyone would draw names and find out who was their valentine,” Estrada said. “It’s not that different [from American Valentine’s day], if you don’t have a partner then they do a secret Valentine’s Day with friends.”

Most Americans use Valentine’s Day to spoil their significant other, but in El Salvador, the focus is on friendship and cherishing one another.

“They’re not so competitive with others,” Estrada said. “Everyone is happy with what they get.”

The most important detail is the amount of thought you put in your gift, Estrada said.

“One time, I gave someone a teddy bear that looked like a Garfield figurine and flowers,” Estrada said. “It was my best friend, so I knew she liked Garfield. She was so happy and it made me happy, too.”

Senior theatre major Ambrosia Hagler at Trinity Valley Community College is hoping to use the day to express her love for her friends, too.

“I usually bake cookies for everyone,” Hagler said. “Everyone uses the day to hang out with their significant others and go on dates. I use it as a day to spoil myself and friends.”

Hagler hopes others will use Valentine’s Day as a day to express love to other people and not just their boyfriend or girlfriend.

“Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day of love for one person, but for everyone in your life,” Hagler said.