My approach to college was different than most. Instead of moving away from my parents and staying in a dorm room, I decided to stay home and commute. I worked close to full-time hours and carried a full-time load at school; all the while maintaining a spot on the Dean's Honor Roll.
I was a sophomore in college when I first met my husband. He was a freshman going to another school and lived on campus. It took very little time for me to realize that he was the one for me. After 11 months of semi-long distance dating, we decided to get hitched. All of our family expected us to wait until after graduation, but we couldn't stand the thought of being away from each other for any longer. So one six-month-long engagement and a wedding later, we are married in college. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I'm married. They immediately look at my finger, see two beautiful rings, and say "you're so young". We kind of went against two social norms here; 1. Getting married in our early twenties, and 2. Getting married before we have merited a bachelor's degree. Yes, I am young, and being married in college doesn't come without its challenges, but it doesn't come without its triumphs either.
The night before the spring semester began, we stayed up until two in the morning going over each other's schedules. We were trying to change things around just so we could eat lunch together on MWF. With our work and school schedules combined, we were lucky enough to find an hour of time to spend together before the next class began.
A trivial challenge is having to wake up for an early morning class when the other person can snooze in later; cue "In the Arms of an Angel" as you walk out the door of your toasty apartment and into the January cold. My husband went through this one semester, and now I am. I guess it's only fair.
One of many great things about being married in college is that you have a permanent shoulder to lean on when times get hard. When I get stressed about a test or a class that is particularly difficult, my husband is there to tell me that everything will be okay. And he means it. Everything will be okay.
We are here to empathize with each other when professors are the absolute worst. True empathy can be hard to come by, but if you are in pain, your husband or wife is in pain too. They would do anything to fix it. "Hey you! Why'd you give him that B? He's A+ material!" Seriously, though, I've had that thought on many occasions. I mean, have you seen his smile?
I am a Marketing major and my husband is an Accounting major, but we have to take a lot of the same classes for our degree requirements. He is able to tell me what professors to take for specific classes and vice versa. When we have taken classes that the other is currently taking, we are able to help each other out with homework. For example, I was up late just the other night working on homework for a class, and I was beginning to get very discouraged. I was at my wit's end, not understanding why Excel wanted to watch the world burn, when my husband swooped in and saved the midnight. He kissed my forehead and helped me work out my homework problems. Bless him.
Being married in college is not for the faint of heart. Being able to balance school, work, finances and your family can be challenging, but it is also very rewarding. If you asked anyone, they would probably say that college was one of the most memorable times of their lives, but they probably couldn't tell you where their college roommate is right now. I can tell you where mine is, he's right beside me for the rest of my life.
