Valentine’s Day is arguably the most polarizing holiday of the year, with students divided over whether the day is a public celebration of your significant other or a corporate cash grab manufactured by the kingpins of Big Teddy Bear. Wherever your opinion falls on the spectrum, one thing is clear — it sucks to be single on Valentine’s Day if you don’t want to be. But there are ways to make it better and get through this Friday relatively unscathed. Here’s Arts & Culture’s guide to making the best of the day without a partner.

Spend time with friends

Assuming you haven’t spent your time at Binghamton University holed up in your room and never interacting with the outside world, you likely have some friends who are also struggling with being single. Why not spend the day being alone together? While it might be difficult to get dinner reservations, you can hang out in someone’s dorm or apartment and reduce misery with company. It’s difficult to remember the day’s romantic expectations when you’re four hours deep into a hypercompetitive game of Monopoly.

Get a head start on work

I guarantee there’s a project or paper you should be working on right now. It might not be due tomorrow or even the day after, but if you’re a student, you almost certainly have a long assignment or two you are procrastinating on. While this is a totally understandable situation, Valentine’s Day offers a perfect opportunity for the terminally single to get a head start. Whether it’s gathering sources for your research paper or preparing your study materials for that far-off midterm, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you’re getting a leg up on your romantically inclined friends.

Catch up on media

If you’re like me, you spend the semester with a rapidly growing list of movies, music and TV shows to get caught up on. Because the human body that demands we sleep at least a few hours each night, it can feel impossible to juggle school, work, personal relationships and whatever media is the newest ingredient in the cultural zeitgeist. Luckily, the time you won’t be spending with a significant other in Lost Dog Cafe or 205 Dry can be spent on Netflix or Hulu, and it will cost you significantly less.

Apply for internships

Your friends may have significant others who contribute to their lives in a positive way, but nothing warms the heart more than knowing what you’re going to do this summer. If you’re a sophomore or junior, spring semester is internship application season, and your solo status gives you a perfect chance to send out your résumé. Make use of the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development and Handshake to find internships or jobs that will help improve your job prospects after college. Keep your eye on the prize.