In an effort to prove that Valentine’s Day does not have to be a lonely day for those without a significant other, the Counseling Center Paraprofessionals will be putting on a workshop Tuesday evening in room 209 of the Illini Union from 7-9.

The workshop, entitled “One Isn’t the Loneliest Number,” is the latest installment in the “Tuesdays @ Seven” series put on each week by the Counseling Center.

John Powell, a clinical counselor at the Counseling Center, said that when he and others in charge of the “Tuesday @ Seven” series plan the semester’s workshops, they try to make them relevant to the time of year.

“We try to come up with timely titles,” he said. “This one is very important to have, and we felt it fitting to hold it on Valentine’s Day.”

Powell said that around this time of year, people who find themselves without a girlfriend or boyfriend often feel alone, but that this does not have to be the case.

“We realize there is such an emphasis on couples and romance around Valentine’s Day,” he said. “The point of this workshop is to emphasize that it is ok to be single.”

Powell said that the workshop will address the reality that everyone is single at one point of his/her life.

“All of us are single at some point, but we are all single at different times,” he said. “Some of us are single because of circumstances beyond our control, but others are single as a matter of choice.”

Erum Mohammed, a senior in LAS, said she and a few of her close friends went out this past weekend to celebrate birthdays and Valentine’s Day by having a bar crawl Friday night.

Mohammed said that she is single and looking forward to spending time with friends on Valentine’s Day.

“We don’t really have anything in particular planned yet,” she said. “I think we will probably go out to dinner or watch TV and just spend the night in, relaxing.”

Meredith Fischer, a senior in LAS, said she, too, plans on having a low-key night.

“My roommate and I are both single so we will probably watch a girly movie or go out to somewhere classy downtown, like Boltini, and have a girl’s night,” she said. “We’ll try to keep the bitterness to a minimum.”

Powell went on to say that instead of looking at being single as a temporary thing, people should embrace the period in their lives.

“A lot of people say that they are single now because they are waiting for the right person to appear,” he said. “Yet, I think it is important to be intentionally single. Take time to discover things about yourself, make friends. This is what I call ‘creative singleness.'”

Powell said the Counseling Center Paraprofessionals usually puts on this workshop once a year and that it usually has a “great” turnout.

“I hope students take from this workshop a feeling that being single can be a great thing,” he said. “It’s not necessarily a curse.”