The last time I was up here, I spoke on a subject that our class is very open about, and discusses often. This time I want to talk about something that every one thinks about, but is a subject that is rarely brought up in class. What is love? It's an age-old question, and it has many answers, but which one is right? Is love all up to our emotions? Do we have to make a choice in order to be in love? Or is the person we decide to spend our life with based on the chemical set-up of our body?

Every one has asked the question, to some one else, or to themselves, what is love? I tried asking about love when I was younger, yeah, that’s not a great time to be asking about love. My parents told me the response no child wants to hear, but is forced to hear regardless. “You’ll understand when you are older.” Well I’m older. And I wonder just how much I know. It gets me thinking about all of the things parents tell you that you will know when you’re older, and I wonder if they even know. But that’s not the point.

The point is that every one has something different to say about love. Some say love is when you can feel butterflies in your stomach or the feeling where every thing is light and burning in your chest. The persons face glows warm every time they see the one they like, and the words get jumbled up in their mouth so something so simple comes out awkward and embarrassing. Love is wanting to do everything for that person, and never, ever be apart.

If any of you have felt that way, those crushing emotions that seem to control your thoughts every minute of every day, maybe you can relate. But those feelings are feelings of puppy love, or a crush. A crush is an intense, but often short-lived feeling. Love can’t be based solely on how people make each other feel. If all there is to love is a feeling, what is it really? If one person can’t live, or function without the other person, how are they supposed to go to work, and what if one of them has to go away? No, love isn’t a feeling.

So if love isn’t a feeling, some people believe that a mate is determined by the chemistry make up humans are born with. According to the amounts of testosterone, pheromones, the positioning of the moon, looks and body language, people will fall in love with some one the same sign as them, or with the right chemical setup.

So, I don’t know how many of you have read your horoscope, but according to mine, I’m a regular w****. This thing is telling me (read horoscope). I doubt there are enough boys for this to be happening ever month. I don’t think chemistry is the answer either, because, although it’s nice to have a good looking guy who always smells amazing and matches my body language, if there was no love, would I go for some one with my chemical match, or some one I wanted to be with?

So, if it’s none of those things, then it must be a choice based on common interests, compatibility, and how two people react to each other. You can’t just fall into love. It’s something that a person has to work towards. There has to be trust, and knowledge of each other for a relationship to last. The more you know about a person, the more you are able to love them.

But then again, though that is my favourite reason for love, it’s not just that either. Thoughts can’t explain a sudden connection, or love at first sight. A strong philosophy for me is that nothing is certain. No matter how much you think you love some one, you can change your mind in a moment. Some one new can come along and then you might realise that this is the person you were meant to be with. Mind you, it wouldn’t be so great if you had already married because you thought you were in love.

So, if love isn’t a feeling, a chemical property, decided on by the position of the stars, or a choice made some time in a person life, then what is it? Love is, and always will be, something different to every person. There are so many explanations for love, and to the person explaining it. That’s the meaning of love to them. That’s the kind of love they are finding in their life.

Love is knowing you want to be with some one for the rest of your life. It’s feeling their smile light up the room, and thinking of their flaws make them so much more beautiful. Love is a corny holly wood movie, a choice to commit to one person, and only them. It’s telling them your secrets, the things that hurt you most, and knowing they will never use them against you. Love is patient, love is kind, and never boastful. Love envies no one, and it shouldn’t. Because to me, when I fall in love, real love, I will never want another. Love is all that, and more.