All is fair in love and marriage
First comes love, then comes marriage – but where does college fit? For many USU students, marriage and college come at the same time.
Cameron and Courtney Lewis were married the summer after their junior year and have felt that being married has helped them academically.
“I am able to focus on school better now because I’m not worried about the dating scene or anything like that,” said Cameron, a senior in business administration.
The Lewis’s also said they feel they are still just as involved with the university as they were before getting married.
“In some ways we may even be more involved than the average student. We go to a lot of sports events and different things the college does,” said Courtney, a recent graduate in public relations.
Courtney has won multiple PR competitions, and Cameron recently took third place at a spelling bee held on campus.
“It is nice to have a support system with you at all times,” Courtney said. “I probably wouldn’t have done those competitions if it wasn’t for Cam.”
However, Courtney said since being married there have been some added pressures.
“It gets hard sometimes when you feel the pressure of being a wife and the pressure of going to school,” Courtney said.
Bo and Katie Nemelka have been married for more than a year and have had different results in their academic career compared to when they were single.
“I dated Katie my freshman year of college, and comparing dating to being married, the relationships never affected my grades,” said Bo, a senior in business.
Katie went to a year and a half of college and then was hired full-time at the job she was working. Upon getting full-time employment, Katie decided to quit school and work instead.
“Me quitting school had nothing to do with marriage. I quit before we were married,” Katie said.
Katie said she was never really interested in school and it wasn’t something she loved to do.
“I think it is great for women to get a higher education. It just wasn’t for me,” Katie said.
Katie said she thought her time was better spent earning money and saving it instead of going to school. Katie said she admires women who graduate from college, and is now a sophomore working on her associate degree in English through online classes.
“I plan on one day getting a degree. I just can’t do school full-time,” Katie said.
Dean and Lacey Hansen said dating and being engaged hurt their academics more than being married did.
Lacey said at the time they were engaged she was taking one class to qualify for the radiology program at Weber State University.
“I didn’t do too well in that class during the time we were engaged,” Lacey said.
While they were engaged, Dean was attending USU full-time.
“I did OK in my classes, but I definitely think I could have done better,” said Dean, a senior in agricultural business.
The Hansen’s said the reason they didn’t get as good of grades was because they spent most of their time with each other instead of focusing on their school work.
The Hansen’s agree school work has been significantly easier since being married. They also said they are more focused on their academic career then when they were single.
“I think being married puts more importance on my school work and my future career,” Dean said.
Dean said he noticed when he had a full-time job, school full-time and the extra responsibilities that marriage brings, he was more organized with his time and was able to get better grades.
Bryce and Sydney Green started dating when Sydney was a sophomore and Bryce was not attending school.
The Greens were married over a year ago and Sydney has been going to school full-time, except for taking one semester off after being married.
“I took the semester off so that I could manage Old Farm and so that I could be with Bryce,” said Sydney, a junior in elementary education.
Sydney said her decision to take a semester off of school was influenced by being married, but that she had every intention to return the next semester.
This semester is Bryce’s first.
“I eventually want to go to Wyo-Tech, but while we are here I want to get as much schooling in as possible,” said Bryce, a freshman in international business.
The Greens decided they would stay in Logan so Sydney could finish her degree and then they would move to California, where Bryce plans to attend Wyo-Tech.
“I just think everyone’s situation is different and they have to figure out what works best for them,” Bryce said.
– chelsee.niebergall@aggiemail.usu.edu