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Editor’s note: The following survey results were gathered by Cassandra Sepp.

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that people either love or hate, and after conducting a survey on Saint Mary’s campus, we found that 83 percent of students and staff love it and 17 percent hate it.

A question featured in our Valentine’s Day survey asked about people’s favorite gift to either give or receive on Valentine’s Day. Responses were widespread, ranging from chocolates and flowers to monster truck tickets and a chainsaw. Some other responses included a kiss, letters/cards, a nice dinner, stuffed animals, jewelry, and food. Things like the gift of time, someone’s presence, a day of peace and quiet, love and affection, and a night with no kids were also mentioned. Another stressed response was that the gift could be anything as long as it came from the heart and had thought put into it.

Along with gift-giving, going out on fun and romantic dates is a very popular tradition on Valentine’s Day. The last question we asked in our survey was about the most romantic or best date people had ever been on. We were surprised with the amount of people that admitted to never being on a date before, but many of the staff and students responded with very romantic and fun stories. Here are a few of their responses:

“Walking on the beach in Florida collecting seashells as the sun set into the ocean”

“My husband had a salmon dinner made for us on an island dock, and he paddled us out to it. This was a surprise engagement at my favorite place, my best friend’s cabin”

“A walk on the beach where we danced and kissed”

“A date with my hubby- went to see ‘Singing in the Rain’ and then to dinner at my FAVORITE restaurant- The Saint Paul Grill, and then stayed at the beautiful Saint Paul Hotel”

“Running around Chicago with my boyfriend which included the art institute, shedd aquarium, getting my promise ring, and eating at a pizza place we didn’t realize was mafia joint until we had already ordered (it was good pizza)”

“Picnic lunch in the middle of a meadow on a warm spring day– wine, bread, and cheese in a beautiful basket”

“Dancing in the parking lot after Prom”

“Ice skating”

“An afternoon drive in Colorado when my husband proposed, down on his knee, with the mountains as our backdrop”

“My boyfriend and I went rollerskating last year! It was very sweet that he agreed to it considering I love roller skating but he’s terrible at it”

“1st date was going to a hockey game with the girl of my dreams. I married her 3 seasons later”

“My boyfriend took me to Ace Hardware on our first Valentine’s Day together to play with the puppies on display”

“Dirt races, in the center of the track, driving the tow truck, eating cheese curds”