With Valentine’s Day around the corner, students at Elizabethtown College weighed in on a classic question: what makes a better gift, flowers or chocolate?
While both gifts are commonly associated with the holiday, students who were asked this week’s debate question expressed a strong preference for flowers, stating their longevity, beauty and emotional significance made them a better gift. Many respondents said flowers felt more meaningful because they can be enjoyed over time rather than a single moment.
“They last longer than chocolate,” Maddie Castellano, a first-year public relations major, said. “Flowers are more uplifting and bring more joy.”
Several students echoed Castellano’s thoughts, emphasizing that flowers serve as a visible reminder of care and effort.
“Flowers are visual proof somebody cares,” Lexi Benninger, first-year public relations major, said.
For other students, the appeal to flowers is simply just their beauty and their ability to brighten up a space. Flowers can change the mood of a room and make the holiday feel a little more special.
“I would rather get flowers because they are pretty,” Lizzie Camili, first-year public relations major, said.
Other students pointed out that flowers hold a more sentimental value compared to chocolates. While chocolate is often enjoyed quickly, flowers can remain for days or even weeks, allowing recipients to revisit the gift long after Valentine’s Day has passed.
“I would probably rather get flowers because then every time I look at them, it would remind me of the person that gave them to me,” Olivia Goldman Smith, first-year early childhood and special education major, said.
Although chocolate remains a popular Valentine’s Day staple and a favorite treat for many, students who favored flowers said the chocolate’s temporary nature made it less memorable. Once it is eaten, there is nothing left to show thought behind the gift.
In controversy, a few students said they do enjoy chocolate rather than flowers.
“Chocolate doesn’t die after a few days, it’s something you can actually enjoy,” Cassidy Kuchenbrod, first-year occupational therapy major, said. “And chocolate is just more fun, there’s so many different types and it’s just a nice sweet treat to enjoy.”
After surveying multiple students, flowers emerged as the clear favorite among students, valued not just for their pretty appearance but for the emotions they can carry. Respondents consistently emphasized how flowers serve as a visible and lasting reminder of care and intention, often outliving the holiday itself.
For me, flowers stand out for those same reasons. Unlike chocolate, which is enjoyed and gone, flowers can be preserved by drying or pressing them. Pressed flowers can even be repurposed into keepsakes, such as stickers for scrapbook pages, allowing the memory attached to the gift to live much longer. In these ways, flowers become more than a simple Valentine’s Day gift, they can become a tangible reminder of the moment and the person behind it.
While chocolate remains a classic part of the holiday, this week’s debate highlights what many students value most in a Valentine’s Day gift, sentiment, meaning and a lasting impression. As students look ahead to future Valentine’s Day celebrations, the question remains, is the best Valentine’s Day gift one that is enjoyed in the moment or one that holds meaning long after the day passes?
