Some students came back from summer vacation with stories of summer fun, while others returned with exciting experiences to share. Others arrived with a brand new, life-changing status: They were married.
Senior Rachel Walter and husband Eric Walter, Eastern alumni, got married in July. The couple, who met at Eastern, had been engaged since February and decided that having a wedding this summer would not only be great timing for them, but for their families as well.
Senior Jordan Ellis and her new husband Joey Ellis also found July to be the perfect time to become husband and wife. However, their love story began some time earlier.
“We met in high school,” Jordan Ellis said. She was a first-year and he was a junior, and the relationship that they began then has been blossoming now for almost six years.
Seniors Betsy and Andy Wasson also began their fairy-tale at a tender age. They grew up in the same area and began dating each other in the eighth grade.
After dating for six years, they decided that marriage seemed like the next step. Though Betsy Wasson sometimes found herself contemplating marriage, Andy Wasson was more than sure.
“He knew he was going to marry me,” Betsy Wasson said.
After lots of prayer and time to think, she decided that marriage was her final decision. She and Andy tied the knot on Aug. 1.
Marriage is certainly a wonderful union between two people, but there are challenges that come along with every good thing.
“As college students, it’s hard to find time to be together,” Betsy Wasson said.
For Jordan Ellis, time is also an adjustment. Currently, she finds herself commuting between Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, N.Y. where her husband recently landed a job at an advertising company.
This new career is one of the major the couple decided to get married. After graduation, Jordan Ellis said she is “excited to move to Brooklyn full-time.”
Financial changes are also a big adjustment for all the newlyweds.
However, all of the wives have expressed their joy and excitement over their marriages. They are all looking forward to starting families, but they plan to wait a few years.
Betsy Wasson has plans of continuing on to graduate school, and Jordan Ellis and Rachel Walter plan on beginning their careers as teachers.
So far, the newlyweds have just been enjoying time together.
“It’s nice to just come home, and he’s there,” Rachel Walter said.
Whether the marriage was more of a surprise or long in the making, it is no question that all of these newlyweds have enjoyed married life so far.
Grace Nealy 
Jason Karch 
Josh Steen