Amy Bell's fiancee bought her a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll three years ago. While she was laughing along with the red furry doll, Evan pulled a velvet box from his pocket-it was an engagement ring.
She had just turned 20.
Bell is one of several Point Park students looking to tie the knot in their early twenties. But it makes some students wonder: are their classmates thinking about walking down the aisle before thinking about walking for commencement?
"Personally, I think that we're young but we're still old enough to be to be mature in our decision," Bell said of her upcoming nuptials. "We both know enough of what it takes to make the relationship last."
Junior secondary education major Michelle Cosgrove is planning her best friend's wedding-her best friend has a house, a baby and another on the way. She's 22.
"It's mind boggling," Cosgrove said. "The weird thing is that we're all the same age and I'm planning her wedding."
According to the Allegheny County Marriage License Office, the average age for brides is 25 to 29 years old; Point Park students usually wait until their senior year or following their graduation.
Some students point to a 1950s-type mindset that drives young women to get married quickly. But unlike the stereotypical 1950s marriage, Point Park students plan on having their own lives, and plan on having careers of their own.
A senior public relations and advertising major, Bell plans to get a job when she graduates this December and work throughout her married life.
"We both plan on working," Bell said.
And as for her thoughts of staying home: "I don't want to make him do everything."
Amy's fiancée, Evan Miller, did everything to plan out his proposal.
After driving over three hours from Hanover, Pa., Miller presented Bell with a gift: the new model of a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll. Bell was tickled with the pure silliness of the gift and started laughing hysterically with it.
Miller nervously pulled a box out of his pocket and asked Bell to marry him. She said yes.
"I was so surprised!" Bell said.
In what seems to be a fairytale, Sesame Street ending Bell met some opposition with another Point Park student.
Morgan Patkos, a freshman global cultural studies major feels that young marriages aren't wrong, but somewhat wasteful.
"If you're going to spend the rest of your lives together, then why do you have to do it so soon," Patkos said. "What's the rush?"
Patkos is not a bitter woman though. Her grandmother left high school and earned her General Equivalency Degree at 17, married at 18 and was a mother at 19.
"I'm almost 19, and I can't even imagine being married," Patkos said.
But it's different for everyone, Patkos said.
The freshman explained that college student are at a certain phase in their lives; and while in college and starting their careers, marriage shouldn't be the top priority.
"Our environment is go to college and get a job," Patkos said. "It seems too restrictive to get married so young-there's so much you could do and marriage kind of hinders it."
Despite a difference in surface opinions, Bell and Patkos have one thing in common: what marriage means.
"The meaning of marriage has changed to something you do when you're in love," Patkos said.
