Written by Stephanie Healy
Wedding Chapels, social club ring ceremonies and marriage myths all sound like beautiful goals for the future; however, here at Harding University, that future might not be as far away as some would think.
Here at Harding, students have no trouble admitting that they feel pressured to marry.
“I feel like it’s very easy to be pressured into marriage,” junior Rachel McDowell said. “It is the next step in life and you feel afraid and you fear loneliness so you are pressured to be married so you are not alone.”
A recent study from College News shows that this pressure is not solely linked to Harding. Instead, it shows “nearly 40 percent of female undergraduates are married or have children” and “73 percent of female undergraduates aged 25 or older [are married].”
So where does all of this pressure come from? If Harding University isn’t the only “marriage factory” then its Christian values are not the main factor encouraging college students to marry. So, what is? Is it society, our peers, the faculty or are our parents encouraging us to tie the knot?
Sophomore Rachel Martin said it is not her parents encouraging her to wed. Instead, “I feel like I’m pressured by the faculty, chapel and…[also just by] being surrounded by people in a relationship.”
Martin also stated that here at Harding, “People rush into [marriage] because they’re expected to get married and be in a relationship.”
However, junior Logan Staggs disagreed.
“I do not believe I’m being pressured into marriage and I look forward to the marriage life,” Staggs said. “I don’t feel like it’s an obligation. I feel like it’s an opportunity.”
Sophomore Zach Morningstar said he is “not really concerned about it.”
“I don’t feel pressured to get married,” Morningstar said. “I’m not really looking for anyone right now. I may be getting married in four to six years.”
