Weddings while at Waynesburg
When John Wicker went on the Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP) trip in 2014, he had no idea the impact the trip would have on him. The trip was a great learning experience, but the most significant part of the trip was someone he met while there.
He was one of 30 college students on the trip to Ocean City, New Jersey, where a trip to a Guitar Center store with several other students would land him a conversation with Ariel Mohn. Mohn, from Canton, Ohio, joined another student on a trip to Guitar Center. Coincidentally, Wicker had to go pick something up himself, so he went along. Wicker and Mohn enjoyed a conversation about Wicker Mayer’s “Where the Light Is” album, and he and Mohn’s friendship ‘really hit it off then,’ said Wicker.
***
Wicker and Mohn didn’t start dating until after returning home from Ocean City, after Mohn and her boyfriend at the time broke up. But after two years of long-distance dating, the two had their wedding on July 24, 2016 – a day Wicker said was “absolutely incredible for so many reasons.”
Wicker, a marketing major, is almost halfway through his senior year at Waynesburg University now, while his wife, now Ariel Wicker, works as an assistant marketing director and one of the managers at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Washington, Pennsylvania. After John Wicker graduates in May, the two plan to decide where to move and enjoy the rest of their life together.
***
John Wicker said it’s characteristic for students at other schools to be married at some point before graduation.
“It’s definitely an anomaly, as opposed to other schools like Malone, where Ariel is from, or Geneva or Grove City [where] you see college students and it’s a cultural norm for people to be married in their junior year…but it’s definitely a lot more rare on this campus,” he said.
He knows his situation is unique. But he’s not the only student on campus in recent years to have had their wedding bands on their finger before having their Waynesburg diploma in their hand.
Joy Oster, a member of Waynesburg University class of 2015, spent her junior and senior years married to her husband Callen Oster. She said she met Callen Oster in high school, as Joy Talbott, in their hometown of Tallmadge, Ohio, as he was friends with her older brother. Joy and Callen Oster started dating in her junior year of high school and married after her sophomore year of college, in May 2013.
They rented a house in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, because after graduating from Robert Morris University, Callen Oster was working in Pittsburgh and Joy Oster was still attending Waynesburg. Joy Oster worked hard her freshman and sophomore years to make an easier load for her junior and senior year, during which she commuted from their house. Joy would record her professors’ lectures and then listen to them on her commute, something that caused her to keep going over and over the new information she was learning in class.
Although John Wicker said being married while still in school was a significant commitment in terms of his time management, he said he has also been able to stay on top of his academics, and has still been able to enjoy his college experience.
“To be honest, it’s so much of a blessing and I don’t find it to be hindrance in any way,” he said. “Even though she graduated, it doesn’t stop us from being college kids still.”
John Wicker commented on the experience of balancing Ariel Wicker and his academics.
“It honestly isn’t all that stressful,” said Wicker. “Because marriage isn’t just like an extracurricular activity that you put on your resume; it’s your life and it’s something that you prioritize even more than being a college student.”
Both Callen and Joy Oster had difficult majors which called for a focus on their academics. Callen was an actuarial science major and Joy was a nursing major, who also participated in cross country and track and field. Although Joy Oster was still in college when the two married, Callen Oster had graduated early and already had a full-time job before the two got married. This was an important factor Joy considered with Callen Oster, as she wanted to make sure they were making good financial decisions.
With the light load, Joy Oster only had to go to campus about two or three times a week, which allowed for more time to be with Callen Oster at home.
“I really enjoyed how everyday it was like I got a break from school, so it was a better life balance for me,” said Joy Oster.
For the first year of John and Ariel Wicker’s relationship, she attended Malone University in Ohio, which caused a gap of a three hour drive one way between the two – John Wicker said the two tried to see one another in person every two weeks but that there were a lot of Skype dates throughout this time.
Wicker said that long distance relationships are a good indicator of the intentionality of the couple.
“The thing about long-distance relationships is that they help you to figure out right off the bat whether you are going to be intentional in pursuing that relationship or not, you can make up your mind pretty quickly in the first couple of months,” said John Wicker. “
Ariel Wicker graduated from Malone in May 2016 with a degree in communications and the two had their wedding ceremony this summer. Since she began working in Washington, the two aren’t separated by such a long distance.
He said their relationship became stronger through the growing of their friendship, and John Wicker said that’s when he knew Ariel was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
“I would definitely say that spending time together and just simply the growing of our friendship and sharing our dreams and sharing what’s important to us really helped establish that [want to get married] in the both of us,” said JohnWicker.
John Wicker said since getting married, Ariel has helped him with the stresses that life brings. He said the two are both going through a new stage in life, becoming adults. Ariel Wicker graduated and John Wicker will graduate in May, which brings several complications that simply come with becoming adults. Getting insurance, applying for credit cards, paying bills and other aspects are all new experiences to both Wickers. They’re going to approach these tasks as they plan to attack the rest of their lives as a team.
“People say marriage is hard but I’d rather say that real life can be hard and marriage makes that hard work a lighter burden, because you’re a team with them,” said Wicker.
Just as the Wickers, Joy Oster said she and Callen would be a team and that she would equally contribute.
John Wicker said his parents were incredibly supportive of his decision to get married early and he said, quoting professional basketball player Kevin Durant, “They were ‘the real MVPs’ when it came to planning the wedding.” He said his parents helped him go into the marriage with ‘eyes wide open.’
Joy Oster said the decision to get married while still in school isn’t for everyone, but she doesn’t regret the decision at all, as it’s worked out well for them.
The Osters also liked the idea of going through life together; Joy said the reason behind the early marriage was simple.
“Since we got married young, we realized that we wanted to be able to experience life together while we were still sort of figuring it out instead of waiting,” said Joy. “Sometimes people wait until they are graduated and they have their jobs and they have life figured out, but we wanted to share those moments together.”