For some Ohio University students, heading home means eating a bowl of Easy Mac in their dorm with their roommates, but for Sarah King, a senior studying journalism, it means eating with her new husband in their off-campus home.
“This year has worked surprisingly well,” said King, who married her husband, Jeremy King, during the summer of 2012. “It’s a nice balance; we get to enjoy college, but we also have space.”
King is part of the few co-eds who marry young, according to a 2011 Pew Research Center study. While most graduate college at 22 or so, the median age of brides is 26 years old, while the average man marries a little older at 28.
Others agree that marrying young can raise eyebrows.
“I’ve run into some judgment from people,” said Emily Kretzer, a Fall 2012 graduate who got engaged before graduating from OU. “They kind of question why we decided to get engaged and if we’re ready.”
Kretzer said after their wedding, which will take place after her fiancé Matt Witten graduates, the couple will reside in Akron, where Witten currently has a job offer.
“I didn’t expect to find the guy I was going to marry (in college),” said Kretzer, who dated Witten for a year and a half before they got engaged. “We really wanted to be in the same place to start the rest of our lives and start our careers.”
While Sarah King said she didn’t predict marrying in college, she had decided after high school not to date somebody she couldn’t see herself eventually marrying.
“Before coming to college, I had kind of assessed my past in dating and came to the conclusion that dating kind of aimlessly leads to a lot more hurt than it does fun,” she said. “I decided that any dating I did in the future, I wanted to do for marriage purposes … That influenced my openness to getting married in college.”
It is progressively less common to find married undergrads, but this was not always the case. In the 1950s, there was a stereotype that women attended college to receive their “MRS.” degree — finding a husband instead of starting a career.
During the 1960s, the median age for men to marry was 22; it was 20 for women. Women were often stay-at-home mothers during the time period as well, according to an article by PBS.
After the second and third waves of feminism, the “MRS.” concept seemed to disappear. King and Kretzer said they hadn’t run into the stereotype as women who chose to marry young.
Susanne Dietzel, director of the OU Women’s Center, said the term might have disappeared as a result of people choosing to marry older, or not marry at all.
“For me, feminism is supporting women and the choices they want to make,” Dietzel said, adding this can range from being a stay-at-home mom to focusing on a career without a husband.
King and her husband will finish up their degrees this year; afterward, they will intern overseas for Cru, a Christian organization.
King added that although the general trend leans toward later marriage, she believes the Christian community sometimes sees earlier marriages. Many of King’s friends from her high school Bible study got married or became engaged before leaving college.
Kretzer, who will seek a teaching position once she moves to Akron, said faith definitely plays into the decision to marry earlier.
“We wanted to be able to do ministry together,” Kretzer said. “It’s a big deal for us (to be) in church together and seeing ourselves being able to take short-term mission trips together. We (put) a lot of faith in God and (Him) leading us to our decision.”
eb104010@ohiou.edu
