Love Is in the Air: Celebrations at AUA

AUA’s Student Council, with the help of the Office of Student Affairs, has been celebrating Valentine’s Day and Saint Sargis and the month of love for the past few years.

Valentine’s Day is popular not only among Armenians but also throughout the whole world. February 14 is a great opportunity to share, receive and spread love all over the place. This holiday is especially popular in the West, although we, Armenians, hear controversial opinions about whether we should toast to love on Valentine’s Day or our traditional holidays each year. The celebration of Valentine’s Day is getting more and more popular in Armenia each year.

The organizers of AUA’s love-themed celebrations believe it is essential to celebrate traditional Armenian holidays as well as Valentine’s Day. Hripsime Vosakanyan, DS junior and a member of the Student Council, mentions that this year along with the main organizers, some of the AUA clubs also participated in planning the events. “‘Love is in the air,’ is all about love and it does not matter whether it is romantic or platonic love,” she said.

One of the Student Council’s primary goals was to help single students enjoy the day as well. Students wrote more than 300 messages to friends and professors on cards and left them in the box located at the Student Union. Card addressees received emails and picked up their cards on February 14. Mariana Safaryan, EC junior, shared, “I loved seeing people putting their cards in the anonymous note box. I also loved that they were handing out the notes and chocolate on the actual day.”

Hripsime also highlights that many students showed their interest in the movie screening and Trndez, another well-known Armenian celebration of love.

Trndez or Tiarnundaraj, another Christian holiday celebrating love, youth and prosperity, is also quite popular among Armenians. The name Trndez means “The Lord is with you,” while Tiarnundaraj means “To come to meet the Lord.” Every year the Armenian Apostolic Church makes a bonfire in the church courtyards and the participants of Trndez jump over the fire. This tradition is mostly devoted to newlyweds and newly engaged couples. It is their right to make the bonfire in their yards and jump over it to protect their family from misfortunes and bad luck.

AUA also didn’t miss the opportunity of ensuring its good luck for the year. There was a bonfire over which students jumped and made a wish. Afterward, the participants were invited to watch “The Longest Ride” in Manoogian Hall.

While celebrating love for several days, AUA students seemed cheerful and delighted. Sharing love at our lovely university was the best thing that could happen during cold winter days.