Let me take you back to November 28th, 2025. It is 23:15 and to a group of friends, I text:
What does love feel like for you guys personally?
Fast forward to February 11th (2026!). It is three days before Valentine’s and six days before Lunar New Year and love, for me, has never been on the brain as much as it has that weekend. So, I asked and you: the students, faculty and staff of Hopkins, responded.
In the span of three days and 56 responses, you asserted love is meant to feel comfortable, authentic. You emphasized feelings of commitment and intention. You agreed that love is not confined to romance. You argued that love is not so much an emotion as it is a choice. You professed your love for your dogs, your friends, your family, yourself. Most importantly, you believed that there is no singular definition to love.
Take a look at this laundry list of notes on love. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
I. SIDECHAT
OP
curious. what does love mean to u individually (53 karma)
#3
it means being willing to inconvenience yourself or sacrificing something for someone else (39)
#1
Safe place to be myself (37)
#2 > #1
i fear u ate that up (14)
II. INSTAGRAM NOTES
pls answer!!! what does love mean to u personally? (via @naowom_.3)
> It’s the most genuine feeling of wishing only the best and actions that support to getting it
> Hoping that my professor is kind
> Love is both the intention and action of caring to me. It’s not enough to want to care about and not hurt a person (intent), but you also need to be able to show it through your actions
> Love is putting in the effort to communicate, care for and understand one another. It’s learning that not everyone shows love in the same way and that’s ok!! Part of loving someone is loving them in the way they prefer and are comfortable with. I am so so blessed to be loved by so many ppl and to love so many others…
III. TEXTS
< What does love mean to you?
> Feeling (perhaps unreasonably) that it’s natural to be my genuine self around someone or something :)
> Romantic love for me is when I want to wake up next to someone and sleepily glare at them for waking me up while pulling them in for a snuggle. For me I think it’s wanting to be someone’s safe place and wanting that person to be my safe place
> I feel like love is “I see you” plus being unjudgmental, even if you cannot fully understand or agree with the others’ perspectives. Yet you’re still by their side, sharing some precious moments (like stargazing or a nice trip) together and watching out for each other.
> Mmmmm, I would say unconditional. You dont [sic] have to be someone special to be loved and cherished.
IV. INTERVIEWS
To me, love means...
“Connection with others, building strong relationships [with] people. Love is my best friend, Joella.”
“My girlfriend.”
“Family and friends, your partner. [For me,] it’s my parents. And my partner if I were in a relationship.”
“…having a village of people who will always lift you up in your best and your lowest times.”
“Wanting to be surrounded by these people, people who make you laugh, spending time with people you really want to be around.”
“… a deep level of care. When you care about something or someone so much it’s always in your head – [it] doesn’t always have to be in your head – but when you care about it enough where you’re like ‘Oh my god, I love that thing, I love that someone, like what else could it be?’ I think that’s love.”
“To me, put simply, love is wanting the best for someone, just willing the good for them.”
“... Doing so not with disregard for yourself but with selfless… intention”
“Love is just trusting someone and being able to be yourself around them”
“… Cooperation and trust. You lay your heart down and you’re vulnerable with someone and you trust that they’re going to take care of you.”
“It’s having someone to rely on who will support you in your lowest and highest moments.”
“Love is being there for each other through the highs and lows.”
“Always being there for someone and being able to be with someone and feel like, ‘Oh, I’m at home right now.’”
“Love is when you just truly know someone and know all their flaws and everything good about them and you accept them for who they are and you just want to be around them, like, all the time.”
“Love means being true to myself and to others.”
“Being authentic and true to yourself…that means loving things about other people just the way they are, love for yourself and being confident in yourself and being true to yourself. So, this is me being true to myself and me loving myself as well.”
“[Love] feels like friendship, but at a much more deeper level. If you are able to be the bestest of friends with that person, that’s what love is. So, you can celebrate Valentine’s with anyone you are good friends with and if that’s someone really special, then that friendship is also really special.”
“Family.”
“My friends.”
“Family and friends, mainly people who accept you for who you are.”
“Love means, to me, friendships and really close community.”
“Having that care for people and really supporting them. I think I have a lot of love and care for the people in my life.”
“Love is a feeling of safety and security. When you’re in love – whether that’s romantic or with your friends – you should always feel safe and secure with that person.”
“Love is sharing.”
“Love is kind.”
“Love is comfort and safety, where you can be yourself around them.”
“…Also authenticity; you can be who you want to be in the relationship.”
“To me, love is sacrifice – especially self-sacrifice, when you choose to spend time and effort with someone you care for you are effectively sacrificing parts or other aspects; it’s just a choice you have to make.”
“For me, love is not an emotion, but love is a choice. Because with someone that you love, there will be days where you two have conflicts and hate each other’s guts, but in that moment, for me, that’s why love is a choice. Even in that moment I abhor them, I still love them because I have chosen to love them – despite whatever feelings I think I have against them. And I think the choice and the commitment of love is much more important than the feeling, which I call moreso infatuation…. It’s good and nice to have and a good basis for any relationship, but for love to flourish, you have to really commit to each other.”
“It’s, like, a feeling and space where you understand the person and also make sacrifices to obviously foster the relationship. But also, a place to learn and grow.”
“Selfless actions you do that really come from the heart for other people.”
“Love is a connection. I don’t know what to say beyond that [laughs]…perhaps a connection between you and someone else. To show that you emotionally and physically are there for them.”
“I think… love is comfort; how comfortable can I be with somebody? How comfortable does something make me?”
“Caring for someone, I think, being supportive and listening to what the other person has to say. Feeling comfortable enough to be yourself around them.”
“Showed most through actions and more often than not, love can be something that’s unconditional. It’s something you continually chose to do throughout your life and towards other people. I remember when I was younger, I always wondered, ‘What does it mean to be in love, and how do I know if I love so and so?’ And I think when I choose to acknowledge that I love the people around me, I think that’s what love is.”
V. VOICE MEMOS
“I think [love is] when [the] words [you use] to describe your affection, whatever word you come up with, is not enough for how you feel.”
“To me, it’s like I care about someone, and the guy will also love me back; [our feelings] are equal to each other.”
“Love is the act of being greater than yourself, and the way you treat others with it, whether it's their emotional, mental, or social being.”
“Love is compromise.”
“I think this applies both romantically and platonically, but I think love can really be about commitment, because, like, you always choose to love someone, romantically, platonically, and you do things to, like, sort of, you know, express that love. And I think, ultimately, it's about commitment, because you can break it off whenever you want, right?”
“Dogs and animals, especially puppies. Especially my sister's dog named Potato.”
“Love to me, is the unconditional acceptance of somebody, and the striving to see that person succeed.”
“Whether it's a person or whether it's something that you would like to do, if you're willing to give time for it. If you're willing to sacrifice something that means something to you for it, I think that's what love means.”
“You know the saying, like, love is inconvenient? Because in order to, like, show that you love them, you have to go out of your way to do things, even if they don't tell you. Or even if they don't mention it, you take the time and effort to know this and put in the time and effort to do extra things besides the bare amount.”
“Love is love.”
Naomi Mao is a sophomore from Toronto, Canada majoring in Neuroscience and Public Health.
