Jenna Rongstad, a junior from Bolingbrook studying management, laughs with her fianc, Benjamin Quoss, as the couple watches the History channel Sunday. Rongstad, who got engaged on New YearÕs Eve, said the planning process is more work than she had initially thought because of the difficulty of balancing the finances of school and a wedding. - - Genna Ord | Daily Egyptian
When leaving a martini bar in St. Louis on New Year’s Eve, Benjamin Quoss got down on one knee and asked Jenna Rongstad to marry him.
“It was freezing cold out, so I would have rather had it happen inside,” Rongstad said. “But whatever floats his boat.”
Rongstad, a junior from Bolingbrook studying management, is one of many students who chose to get engaged while in college. But, she said her education puts a hold on any marriage plans until after graduation.
Rongstad said she receives mixed reactions when she tells people she is an engaged college student. She said while some support her, many people have said she has her whole life ahead of her and should not be getting married at such a young age.
“I went and got my tattoo covered up over the weekend and I told (the tatoo artist) I was engaged,” Rongstad said. “He looked at me like I was crazy.”
According to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2005, couples are waiting longer to get married. The average male gets married around age 27, while the average female ties the knot at 25.
While Rongstad, 20, faces many people who believe she is too young for marriage, Teresa Hubbs, owner of Mr. Tuxedo and Bridal, located at 600 N. Giant City Road, said many students are well prepared when they come to her store.
“I guess they’ve been through the high school experience and that’s educated them a little bit…with proms and all that,” Hubbs said.
When not in classes, Rongstad works at the Saluki Team Store at University Mall, while Quoss, 23, works full time at Marion Ford. Rongstad said she has not started browsing for bridal wear because of her financial situation, another big reason she said contributes to college students’ struggles with marriage.
“Financially, things are different because we’re starting to save for it,” Rongstad said. “We made out a plan of how much we should start saving every month, but we haven’t started it because we’ve had so much stuff going on.”
SIUC offers certain benefits to married college students. Scholarships are available for married students such as the John M. Fohr Memorial Scholarship, which offers $1,000 to married graduate students in the College of Business.
The Wellness Center offers counseling for married couples in college, which includes advice for dealing with stress and financial situations.
While Rongstad and Quoss will not be married for over a year, Angela Parkinson will be married in two weeks to her fiancé Jake Myers, a graduate student in art, at Victory Fellowship Church, located at 414 N. 2nd St. in Murphysboro.
Parkinson, a part-time employee of Mr. Tuxedo and Bridal, said while Myers has been preoccupied with studying and has had little time to help plan the wedding, it is post-wedding plans that will be difficult to balance with school.
“We can’t go on our honeymoon right after we get married because he’s in school,” Parkinson said. “It’s not going to be traditional or anything like that. So I look at that as a huge problem.”
Parkinson said money is a big problem for them as well. Because neither of them has a large income, she said their wedding would have a low budget.
According to the Association for Wedding Professionals International Web site, the average cost of a wedding is between $21,000 and $24,000. Parkinson said her wedding budget is about $1,200.
Besides their troubled financial situation, Parkinson said she and Myers are ready to tie the knot after dating for four years and living together. But, she said her new name bothers her.
“I’m really proud of my signature,” Parkinson said. “I’ve tried practicing and I just can’t get a cool signature.”
Travis Bean can be reached at tbean@dailyegyptian.com or 536-3311 ext. 274.
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