Connecting with Your Student Over Valentine's Day
Love is on many people's minds as Valentine's Day creeps ever closer. Your student may be one of those people, whether he is in a relationship or not. Uncoupled students can feel crummy while folks in couples can feel pressured. So, to make Valentine's Day an overall celebration of friend/ family/significant other/pet love, here are a few things you can do:

• Get Pet Smart. Send a photo of the family dog, with a bubble coming out of her mouth saying something like, "I fur-get how much I miss you when you're gone!"
• Take Care of Your Heart. Make a pact with your student that you're going to take advantage of the Valentine's Day emphasis on hearts to both take better care of your own hearts, whether through adding 1,000 steps a day, signing up for an aerobic activity or checking out the American Heart Association's National Body Challenge 2008 at www.americanheart.org.
• Converse with Conversation Hearts. Send a pack of conversation hearts and challenge your student to make up a story using the phrases on them. Could be interesting!
• Put Together a Valentine-making Party. Send a pack of Valentine-making goodies, from stickers to doilies to fun scrapbooking paper (see box for ideas). This will allow your student to hold her very own Valentine-making party with friends as a way to focus on love beyond just coupledom!
• Capture Love Songs. Next time you're on the phone or Instant Messaging, go back and forth with your student to see how many songs you can come up with that have the word "love" in the title. You'll have a laugh plus you'll each learn more about one another's music this way, too!
• Create a "Love Collage." Cut out magazine pictures or family/ friend photos to make a "Love Collage" for your student. This will emphasize the many different types of love that make his world richer! On Valentine's Day, it can be easy to focus on what he doesn't have (a relationship) but you'll be helping him reshift his attitude.

There are all sorts of ways to connect with your college student. Consider a Valentine's Day heart-to-heart today!

Valentine Card-Making Kit
Here are some possible supplies to send along...

• scrapbook paper (the kind that comes in those fat packs at craft stores)
• markers
• magazines and old calendars to cut out photos and quotes
• lacey doilies
• stickers
• sequins
• yarn
• curling ribbon
• construction paper
• crayons
• little kid valentine cards they can adapt
• aluminum foil
• pipe cleaners

And don't feel like everything has to be pink and red! Love comes in all colors.