The Definition Of True Love (According To 9th Graders)
I’ve been teaching ninth grade English for several years now. Each Valentine’s Day I force their cynical, jaded adolescent souls to contemplate on fate, soul mates, and, of course, true love. Here are some of the best responses I’ve gotten so far.
1.
“[True] love is like bacon, except you can’t taste it. Love makes me feel like a million dollars. Love sounds like the word ‘love’. Love smells like KFC because I love chicken. Love looks like a happy meal you didn’t pay for because a friend did.”
2.
“True love is an emotional state in which one will do anything for another. My perception of love is that love is the willingness to sacrifice. Love is not always a good thing, but one thing is for sure: it is the strongest emotion, and it cannot be forgotten.”
3.
“When I heard or see the words ‘true love’ I think about heartbreak and chocolate. The reason is because I first fell in love with my ex-boyfriend when he forced me to eat chocolate with him. I think about heartbreak because with true love comes disagreement, fighting, arguing, and so on. One time I got my heart broken when I found out he was cheating on me. Such a loser. Now I hate his guts.”
4.
“Sometimes I don’t even know if true love exists. I mean, sure I love my mom and yeah, I love food, but how easy is it to love another person? If love at first sight doesn’t exist, then the only way left is to grow to love someone. But, if you don’t love someone at first then how do you know you ever will? Maybe you don’t grow to love someone. Maybe love doesn’t take time. What if what people thought was love is just acceptance of another person? Maybe we’re just with another person for so long that we thought the only way it could happen was love. What if love doesn’t exist?”
5.
“Love at our age? Ha! Are you joking? True love, no. You can only say you have met your true love when you are dying on your death bed with the wedding ring on your hand while your grieving husband sits next to you.”
6.
“True love is a passion for someone. They make you feel like every day is Christmas and seeing their face is a present to you. Love isn’t an easy thing to find, but you know you found it if that makes you feel how you’ve never felt before.”
7.
“I believe in true love. True love isn’t just love, it’s knowing that whatever you truly love you will never get bored of, fight with, be angry with, etc…to a certain extent. Everyone is going to fight and be angry, but when you truly love them, you will get over it and be sorry for what you did. True love is trusting the other person and it warms your heart.”
8.
“Finding my ‘soul mate’ is definitely not my only objective in life. And the thought of a singular, spectacular being who will someday waltz into my life and sweep me off my feet is improbable. But I like to believe there is someone out there who can understand me better than anyone, love me more perfectly than another human. I don’t know if that’s what you’d call a soul mate, but I think that there’s someone out there that I’m meant to identify with.”
9.
“There is no such thing as true love. Everything you feel for anyone is just a release of chemicals in your body. Love, hate, envy, and jealousy are all just different chemical reactions happening in your body. If we were able to control these chemicals we could fall “in love” with everyone what we meet. PS: except Megan Fox, because she is perfect.”