This Valentine’s Day may not have been the best. Maybe your boyfriend/girlfriend forgot to make the reservations and you had to eat dinner in Newing Dining Hall. Or you’re just not in a relationship right now. For most of us, Valentine’s Day is often not a scene out of a romantic comedy. Fear not, it isn’t the end of the world. Coping with a crappy Valentine’s Day is as easy as one, two, three (and four, five).

1. Buy your own presents.

If you’ve spent the whole month walking down department store aisles filled with stuffed teddy bears and heart-shaped boxes of candy and were disappointed when you did not get any yourself, there is no shame in buying them a few days after Valentine’s Day. It’ll even be on sale. The candy will taste just as sweet next week and remember: dark chocolate releases endorphins. As the wise Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde”) once said, “Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.”

2. Make your own Valentine’s Day.

Long-distance relationships seem to plague a lot of college students, and not being able to spend time with the one you love can be especially hard around Valentine’s Day. This holiday usually means a parade of people holding hands and being happy. However, if your Valentine’s Day was awful because you could not see your significant other, then that doesn’t mean that you can’t make up for it later.

Sarah Zimmer, a freshman Spanish major, said she’s celebrating the holiday over the weekend.

“My boyfriend goes to school an hour away, it’s hard to see each other during the week. We want to do something special so we’re celebrating over the weekend.”

There’s nothing wrong with celebrating Valentine’s Day a little bit late.

3. Express your feelings in a healthy way.

Like Christmas, Valentine’s Day is not only about the presents; it’s about the spirit of the holiday. But if your significant other didn’t even bother making you a card from construction paper or buying your favorite candy from the dining hall, try to tell them in a constructive way.

“Use an ‘XYZ’ statement,” associate professor of psychology Matthew Johnson said. Johnson specializes in marital and family development.

“Tell him or her, ‘when you do Y, I feel Z’ or ‘When you didn’t do anything for me on Valentine’s Day, I felt hurt.’”

This lets the other person know how you feel without making them feel like you’re attacking them, and will let you solve the problem instead of argue about it.

4. Turn that frown upside-down.

According to a study conducted by the American Psychological Association in 1990, women are more likely to be depressed than men. This is probably because men tend to distract themselves, while women usually dwell on their problems.

So try to distract yourself from your romantic woes by laughing it up while watching Comedy Central or a funny movie this weekend. By the time the ending credits begin to roll, hopefully you will have laughed so hard that Valentine’s Day will be a distant memory.

Also, don’t take the holiday all that seriously. It won’t get you anywhere being a cynical Cindy and ranting that it’s a made-up Hallmark holiday, but there’s also no need to spiral into a deep depression about not having a Valentine’s Day that lived up to your expectations.

Marvin Harper, a freshman economics major, said when awkward Valentine’s Day experiences happen, it’s best to laugh.

“One Valentine’s Day I gave a girl candy and a gift, and she gave me flowers too. I thought it was really strange and my friends thought it was even stranger,” Harper said. “They made fun of me all day about it. I gave them back to her at the end of the day and told her to add it to what I got for her and we laughed it off.”

A sense of humor takes care of most awkward situations.

5. Socialize.

Another good way to distract yourself is to keep social. Lying in bed all day doesn’t fix anything. If no one took you out to dinner, get a group of friends who also didn’t go out and have your own dinner. Being around people who really care about you is a great way to remind yourself that even if no one told you they loved you romantically, people still love you as a friend.