Valentine’s Day Free Essays

With Valentine’s Day approaching, I plan some cheer in the lives of college students. I prepare hundreds of love poems by the famous and the infamous on slips of paper to be tossed in a basket and passed around the classroom. And we share poems in April during National Poetry Month. We will write a custom essay sample on Valentine’s Day or any similar topic only for you Order Now Last December when we read â€Å"A Christmas Memory† by Truman Capote, I noted that not one student in class had ever tasted fruitcake. I made some and brought it in for a taste test (ingredient list on BB to avoid any allergies). My students always know the homework and what is expected, but I like to bring in the unexpected. They know that for me â€Å"education should be fun BUT education is never a joke.† I grew up in dreadful Appalachian poverty, the only one in a large extended family to attend college. My students know the story. If a person works hard, most of life works out and brings rewards. I demand that they work hard. I have been teaching for almost 40 years. I am not shy about calling a student into my office and using the â€Å"metaphorical stick† to say: you are brilliant. Why are you so casual about your studies? I receive emails or letters from students to let me know how life worked out for them. One of the young men whom I had reprimanded in my office for taking his studies too frivolously sent a note that he had just received his PH D and had accepted a position as a Superintendent of Schools in Connecticut. I have served on every committee and volunteer to mentor young faculty. I understand that at my age, they must say: she is still excited to enter the classroom after all these years. What is the secret? I have presented at both national and international conferences. About five years ago I began to question the value of our curriculum in developmental education. That led to much research, a chance meeting with Peter Adams of Community College of Baltimore who became my mentor. I knew that our administration and Trustees would not consider class sizes of eight (Peter’s recommendation and practice) so I devised a triad system. Two classes of ENGL 101 (nine developmental students nestled into the 20 in each section). The two nines join later in the support class of eighteen. We have had phenomenal results in both retention and graduation. When the need arose recently for an Honors program, I stepped up to get that curriculum going. Students stop by my office to chat or to ask that I listen. When a student enters, I place everything aside and am â€Å"in that moment.† I have been voted Faculty of the Year twice by students and was presented with the Lindback Teaching Excellence Award. I look forward to every day with my students and with my colleagues in the community college. How to cite Valentine’s Day, Papers Valentine’s Day Free Essays Valentines† redirects here. For the German/Italian wine grape also known as Valentines, see Valentines (grape). Saint Valentine’s Day Antique Valentine’s card Also calledValentine’s Day Observed byPeople in many countries; Anglican Communion (see calendar), Lutheran Church (see calendar) TypeCultural, Christian, commercial SignificanceFeast day of Saint Valentine; the celebration of Love and affection DateFebruary 14 (in most countries, see text) ObservancesSending greeting cards and gifts, dating Saint Valentine’s Day, often simply Valentine’s Day,[1][2][3] is observed on February 14 each year. We will write a custom essay sample on Valentine’s Day or any similar topic only for you Order Now Today Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, mostly in the West, although it remains a working day in all of them. The original â€Å"St. Valentine† was a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Modern romantic connotations were added several centuries later by poets. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies. [4] Today, Saint Valentine’s Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion,[5] as well as in the Lutheran Church. 6] The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as â€Å"valentines†). [1][3] Moder n Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. [7] How to cite Valentine’s Day, Essay examples Valentine’s Day Free Essays Each year in America, Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico and Australia billions of people celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day. 85% of Valentine’s day purchases are made by women, 1 billion valentine’s day cards are sent out each year and Valentine’s day is the second largest card sending holiday of the year, the first being Christmas. Today I will share with you the history of Valentine’s Day and the legend of Saint Valentine. We will write a custom essay sample on Valentine’s Day or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are three different stories as to how Valentine’s Day became a holiday, but they all have the same thing in common, which is Saint Valentine. February has always been a month of romance and history. The roots of this holiday are based on the Christian and ancient Roman tradition. The roman-catholic church recognizes at least three different saints, saint valentine and saint valentines are the two most familiar. The first legend says that Saint Valentine was priest who served in the third century in Rome. The emperor at that time was Emperor Claudius, and he believed that the single men made better soldiers in his army, so he banned all marriages for young men at that time. Saint Valentine seeing this as an injustice was still willing to perform marriages in secret for young lovers. When Valentines secret was discovered, the legend says he was sentenced to death. The second legend suggests that Valentine may have been killed for helping Christians escape Roman prisons. Many Christians that were kept in these prisons were kept by a higher being and were tortured to death. The third story tells us that Valentine sent the very first valentine from prison. The legend says that he fell madly in love with the jailer’s daughter where he was in prison and right before he was put to death he wrote her a letter and signed it love your valentine. Now I am going to tell you how and why Valentine’s Day became a tradition and a holiday. By the Middle Ages saint valentine was viewed as a sympathetic, romantic and heroic figure. As a result of this he was considered one of the most popular of all figures in England and France at that time. Valentines death was said to be around two seventy eight A.  D. In effort to Christianise the Pagan holiday celebration of Pieria at the Lempira festival, it is said that the celebration of saint valentine’s burial was moved to the month of February. In ancient Rome February was the official beginning of spring and was considered at that time a time of purification. In France in England during the middle ages February fourteenth was the day that the birds began choosing their mates, also around five hundred A. D Pope Gelasius declared February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day. How to cite Valentine’s Day, Essay examples