Some students choose marriage in college

By Natasha Records

For most students, balancing classes, work and a social life is enough to worry about.

While most are dealing with relationships with friends and significant others, fewer are actually married.

Though getting married in college isn’t too common, more and more students are taking on the responsibility of starting a family early.

Though the average marriage age is 28, about 18 percent of undergraduates reported they were married, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which surveyed 20,928 undergraduates in 2008.

Crystal Neace, psychology junior, married her husband almost a year ago on May 21, 2011.

“I don’t think I am too young to get married. Most (of my) friends and family’s main issue was the fact that we were still in school,” Neace said.

Neace said it is tough being a student while being married.

“The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is that I feel like I don’t get to see or spend time with my husband as much as I would like to, since we’re both so busy with school,” she said.

Emily Meier is a biology senior who became engaged in May.

“There were definitely some people that I knew that were at first concerned, but all of my close friends and family have been very supportive,” Meier said.

Not everyone wants to wait to graduate to get married, but Meier said she is willing to.

“I know that it would be very hard to manage being in school and being married,” she said.

Neace said she thinks it’s becoming more common for students to get married “because it’s easier to get married while you’re still in school than it is to wait.”

She had planned on finishing school first.

“But you find out that it makes more sense financially for both of you to get married while still in school, and it’s a lot harder to stick to waiting until you finish school when you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with,” Neace said.

Unlike Neace, Meier said she thinks fewer students are getting married.

“I think it is definitely becoming less common because many students want to start their career and be stable themselves before they bring someone else into their life,” she said.

Meier said she doesn’t know too many students who are married, but she has had a few classes with fellow married students.

Like other marriages, a college marriage isn’t too different.

“The best part about being married would have to be knowing that there is someone waiting for you at the end of the day,” Neace said. “Someone you can share everything with, especially when you have bad days in classes or anything. It’s knowing that you have someone who understands what you’re going through and is determined to help you out every step of the way.”