In the Wooster whirlwind of classes, exams, extracurricular activities and Independent Study, it seems that there isn’t really time for any other type of obligation. Yet, some Wooster students have found time to make the ultimate commitment: engagement and marriage.
While many people would assume that making such a big commitment at a young age would be difficult, students Leah Inglis ’11, Ned Weakland ’12, and Liz Lloyd ’11 (nee Kaplan) reveal that when you’re in love, taking the extra step is definitely worthwhile.
Inglis and Weakland have been engaged since June 6, 2009. They had been dating for about a year prior to their engagement. Their wedding is set for July 21, 2012, not long after Weakland will graduate from Wooster. Both said that their families were supportive of their decision to become engaged, especially since the couple decided to wait to marry until after both had finished school. Friends have been supportive of the couple’s engagement as well, although Weakland admits that sometimes he receives a bit of good-natured teasing from his fraternity brothers.
The couple also revealed a surprising benefit of becoming engaged while in college: practicing living together. Though each has their own room, the couple is able to spend a great deal of time together learning about each other’s living habits.
Inglis said, “I think that we’re getting a lot of the kinks out of the way, which most people don’t have a chance to do until they move in together.”
When asked why they chose to become engaged now instead of waiting until after both had graduated, the couple expressed that they knew that they wanted to be with each other, and that they wanted to share this feeling with others.
“We knew what we wanted. We knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each otherÖrelationships are so tawdry anymore. You see so many people cheating on each otherÖ That’s not what I’m about; if I wanted to have a relationship like that I wouldn’t be in a relationship. This is something I wanted to do,” said Weakland.
“We knew we wanted to be with each other, and we wanted to make it a public commitment,” said Inglis.
Liz Lloyd (neÈ Kaplan) has been married since June 12, 2009 to her high school sweetheart, Eric Lloyd, who is three years her senior. The couple had been dating for six years when they got married. Her husband proposed several days after Christmas in 2007, during Liz’s senior year of high school and while he was finishing culinary school.
Both of their families were supportive of the couple’s decision to get engaged, although Liz’s mother made her promise that she would finish two years of college before they married. When Liz came to college, her fiancÈe followed her to Wooster, working as a chef at the South Market Bistro and has since relocated to a position at an Akron restuarant. The couple bought a house within walking distance of campus several months after their wedding.
Overall, Liz said that the campus community has been supportive of her marriage. While she says that students who do not know her can find her situation strange, her friends have been very encouraging and admire her fairy tale, high school sweetheart story. Because she is so academically focused and successful, professors are sometimes surprised to discover that she is married with an adult life complete with full time job and mortgage payments.
Although there have been some challenges that arose as a result of her marriage, including having to renegotiate her financial aid and having to give up the field hockey team in order to work, Liz said that the sacrifices were well worth it.
“There’s a few things that I realized. When you make choices in college, like getting married, you’re going to lose a few things, but you’re going to gain a lot,” she said.
Liz explained why she got married in college, stating, “The time was right. This was the perfect time to get out and get started. I had moved out of my mom’s house. I was done living at homeÖI was working and I had created my own life. It was just time to take that extra step towards me and Eric becoming a family.”
After she graduates, Liz hopes to find a teaching job, and she sees children, as well as graduate school, within the next several years.
Though it may surprise some, these students have revealed that committed relationships really can work on campus.
As Inglis said, “It’s nice to rely on someoneÖIt’s your other half.”