OK, I admit it, when I was younger, I played M.A.S.H. just because I was curious about who I was going to marry and how many youngens I was going to have.

Less than a month ago, pop-star Britney Spears had a baby just shy of a year after getting married. Even before she tied the knot, the singer was sporting shirts which read “Milf in training.”

So, I think to myself, “Why does this fellow Louisiana girl with everything going for her want to be a wife and mother?”

Maybe getting married and having kids is just in the water down here.

Matrimony is definitely a popular trend a Tech.

Every little girl plans her wedding day in her head. She sits around discussing these grand ideas to all her friends who are equally as excited about their big day. It’s all planned out—the colors, the dress, the music, the after-party, the honeymoon dream—everything except the groom.

Now, at 20 years old, the thought of getting hitched and having kids not only scares me, it makes me nauseous. 

But, I think I am in the minority on this whole marriage deal.

Even in The Tech Talk office, there are three engaged girls, and just this summer, two fellow Tech Talkers said their vows.

Don’t get me wrong. I think marriage is a wonderful thing when a person is actually ready, not when they feel pressured.

I know in sororities, the candle pass is a huge deal. Girls want to get engaged before they leave college so they can be the one blowing out the candle.

Another pressure point, I think, is unconsciously, children follow in their parents’ footsteps. If your parents got married in college, then maybe you would want to, too. 

At Tech, there are marriage and family relation courses available to students with accompanying majors. Geez, no pressure in those classes.

Outside of class, in the community of Ruston where everything is very conservative and family-oriented, men are brought up to become successful and taught the value of becoming the breadwinners.

The Louisiana mentality of having the picket-fence dream with a couple of kids, a dog and a tire swing is very much alive.

Spears said in an interview with NBC, “The only thing I haven’t done so far is experience the closest thing to God, and that’s having a baby.”

For me, I haven’t experienced the world yet, began my future fabulous career or shucked off my selfish side. There is no room in my life for anyone but me, so that is who I am going to focus on for now. And I’ll also focus on getting my body like Spears’ on the cover of her Greatest Hit Album: My Prerogative. 

And for all those who are painting their picket fences now, I say, good luck to all of you. I wish you all the very best.

Maybe I’ll go play M.A.S.H now with some friends.

 

Candace Miers is a junior journalism major from Monroe and serves as contributing editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to clm049@latech.edu.