The Rampage #4 March 2020

The Rampage

Employee Features

28

A Celebration of Love

BC Married Couples Set Example for

by Carrington Hawthorne

English and Theatre • 2020

Have you ever noticed that Bluefield College hires a lot of married couples? As Valentine’s Day approaches, BC’s married employees share fond memories and talk about what it is like to work for the same institution as your spouse.

D r. Rob Merritt currently serves as chair of the BC English Department. His wife, Mimi, previously served in multiple positions at Bluefield College, including associate professor of communication, faculty advisor for The Rampage , interim vice president for academic affairs, and dean of institutional effectiveness. They worked together for more than 20 years. “One time I was her boss, and one time she was my boss,” Dr. Merritt said. They agree that a major benefit of working for the same institution is the shared vacations, because they love to travel. Mimi said that one of her fun experiences while working alongside her husband was the convenience of having his office near hers. “My office was on the other side of the wall from his,” she said, “and I was always locking myself out. So, I’d get Rob to help me break back into my office.”

J ustin and Katie Morton recently joined the Bluefield College family. Justin is in his third year as head men’s soccer coach, while Katie has served as women’s residence director and assistant coach for women’s soccer for two years. Together, they live on campus in The Bluestone Commons with their two-year-old daughter, Elia.

“Having Elia a part of the college life has been the biggest blessing,” said Katie. “I love the saying ‘it takes a village to raise your children’. Bluefield has truly welcomed our family with open arms.” Soccer is what brought the Mortons together. They agree that their love of playing the game has helped them stay connected, despite their competitiveness. Justin jokes that the challenge of working

for the same institution is that they see each other “too much,” but that becomes a benefit when they are having a busy day at work and still have time together. “Marriage is a journey of constantly learning and sacrificing for the other person,” said Katie. “Our story is messy, and we don’t always have it together. And that’s the point. I think we live in a world where we look at social media and want that person’s life or want your future marriage to look like theirs.” Valentine’s Day is special for the Mortons because they got together on that day. Justin planned what he thought would be a “perfect” date for the two, but it turned out to be a little less than perfect when they were late for their dinner reservation. Following dinner, they were to go on a hike; however, Katie forgot to bring a change of clothes. It was dark by then, so Justin decided they’d go stargazing at the park, but that was cut short when police officers kicked themout because the park was closed. It seems the only thing that went right that night was that Justin asked Katie to be his girlfriend, and she agreed. While they know they are not perfect, Katie and Justin also know they can overcome any failures by choosing God. Their advice for couples: “Pray for your spouse, pursue always, never stop dating, and know that everyone has mess behind the Instagram world.”

Dr. Merritt said he always makes his wife a Valentine’s Day dinner. Mimi says, “he’s a really good chef.” They’ve often included friends in the dinner with Dr. Merritt leading the men in cooking dinner for their wives. “All the girls dressed up to the nines, and the men wore tuxedos,” Mimi said. And Dr. Merritt added, “These were doctors and lawyers. They wanted to pay back their wives for all the meals they had cooked all year.”