I’ll be the first one to admit that I am not big on Valentine’s Day. Most people would blame it on not being in a relationship, but I can trace my skepticism of the holiday back to first grade.

In first grade I had two best friends. Let’s call them “Arthur” and “Muffy.” The three of us always had a great time together pretending to be Power Rangers and whatnot, and the future of our friendship looked bright. That was until Feb. 14 rolled around.

After the last school bell had rung that Valentine’s Day, Muffy pulled me aside. She excitedly showed me a love letter that Arthur had written for her and put in her carefully decorated shoebox, along with all of the other valentines from classmates. I was not really interested in what she was telling me because I was busy pawing through my own shoebox, looking for more chocolate to eat. I reluctantly put down the candy and examined the letter. And then I laughed at her.

There were two reasons I laughed: 1) I knew Arthur would never be interested in her, and 2) I recognized her handwriting on the letter. I immediately pointed out to Muffy that she had written the letter herself and that I would know her metallic gel pen anywhere. She told me that I was a bad friend for not being happy for her.

So I did what any young fan of “The Boxcar Children” would do. I solved the mystery.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly difficult. I just asked Arthur what possessed him to write Muffy a love letter. He confirmed the fact that he indeed had not written the letter, but what he said next astounded me. He told me that he was not interested in Muffy in that way because she was a slow reader and a bad soccer player. It was then that I realized that there are certain qualities in people that attract them to one another. And Muffy did not posses the qualities that Arthur was looking for.

Having the ability to boot a soccer ball across the playground and being able to read a chapter book don’t really have quite the same pull for my peers these days. Other factors cause college students to be attracted to each other. Eyes. Legs. Sense of humor. Butt. Hair.

What is it about a person that attracts other people? While most college students might rattle off anatomical parts or personality traits when asked what attracts them to someone, perhaps some things besides bra size or how much someone can bench press also factor in to the equation.

Of course physical attributes definitely help feed your attraction to someone, but physical proximity is really one of the major players. Romantic, right? The closer you live to a person, the more likely you are to become friends. Most students at Creighton will come to find that the people they lived near freshman year are some of the same people they still talk to every day. Had they lived on a different floor or in a different dorm, they could very well have an entirely different group of friends today.

The same goes for romantic relationships. People in college may think that they have found their soul mate, and that could very well be the case. But it could also be that they happened to meet a person who lives a floor above them and shares their love of coconut-scented hand soap. Is he or she the most perfect person in the world for you? Or just the most perfect person in Swanson for you?

If this year’s Valentine is a person you met because you live near each other, or if your relationship resulted from pure pheromones, it doesn’t really matter. What makes a relationship happen is not as important as what keeps the relationship going. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day, and please refrain from sending yourself a love letter. Especially if it is written in gel pen.