LDS KCOMers

[tristan]

Hey to all you LDS people,

Hey, I'm trying to decide if I should go to KCOM. I want to know if there is a good population of single mormons in the area. What do you know about the wards? Since I managed to graduated from BYU without getting married, I thought I would find a place that would give me even a bleak chance of getting married. Thanks for your input.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Aloha Kid]

Should have tried AZCOM. 32% of MSII LDS. Single wards abound

 

[Sweaty Paul]

Tristan,

Although I am not LDS I can confirm that KCOM has a large and very active population of LDS students. I'll talk to some of them and let them know you are interested telling them they can, if they so choose, contact you here.

Aside from that, I can tell you that KCOM is a great school, you'll learn tons, and it is definitely worth the 2 years you live in Kirksville. After that you can go to a variety of places for your 2 years of rotations including Utah and Arizona.

Hope that info helps.

Sweaty Paul MS-III
KCOM

 

[AviatorDoc]

As for the class of 2005, to the best of my knowledge, we had 8 single mormons enter the class. Two are female, but one is not practicing. On the other hand, a non-mormon single girl converted & got married to a single mormon guy. TONS of married w/ children. TONS of BYU grads.

Also, I think there is a single ward in Kirksville.

I know, i know, its not "mormon", but that's the term I grew up with.

Sounds like Arizona may be a better choice if thats your criteria (but I hope it's not).

 

[dkwyler94]

I guess I could reply since I am one of those BYU single LDS guys. Probably not the best though since the number of singles wasn't even a consideration and I haven't done anything with the ones that are here. But I also made it through BYU with only one date, a fact I'm proud of.

There isn't a singles ward, but all the singles go to one of the two wards. They have there own sunday school class. They also have FHE (I'll throw out all the mormon jargon, to confuse everyone else out there). every monday at then dinner most sundays. They also seem to have several other activities.

There aren't many LDS single female KCOM students. There is Truman though. Some guys in the past have dated some of them. There are probably about 10 or so girls from there at church.

We are about 100 miles from Nauvoo. In the past some of the single guys have driven over there to do some stuff with the BYU people studying for a semester. We are in the Nauvoo stake.

It is a good school though. That is why I chose it. If you are really concerned with the single scene, you can do your 3rd-4th year in Utah (Provo, Salt Lake, or Logan) or down in Arizona. I would recommend you choose the school you want to go to. There is plenty of other social things to do. I am very comfortable with my social life here.

 

[rbassdo]

I'm a non-LDS that's been listening in on this conversation. I have to ask...why is dating/marriage opportunities something you are concerned about when choosing a med. school? What will be will be - Right? I guess this question should be addressed to you, tristan, since you began this thread. I'm just curious.

By the way...It's not hard to notice that LDS couples at KCOM are keen on "pumping out" babies. Is this normal for mormons? Again, I'm just curious.

 

[dkwyler94]

rbassdo,
I'm with you. Its kinda' a BYU thing. There life revolves around the hunt for the SO. I guess it is expected. You put 30,000 young single people looking to get married together, and you have the worlds biggest dating scene. Once one leaves, I believe many see this as the norm, and seek to continue it. It is a culture very different than one I have ever experienced before, but like any culture difference, I don't feel comfortable saying it is right or wrong- just different. Marriage and family is important to the LDS faith, but the pressure towards doing so ASAP is more of a BYU-Utah thing of what I have experienced. As for myself, I found cave exploration much more interesting than BYU dating, so I joined a club and kept my head in a hole for 3 years (literally).
As far as the baby pumping issue. I believe that comes from something else. I think it is a mixture of the western culture where the average family size is larger and the emphasis the LDS faith places on family is also a factor. If from this and other factors, one decides they want to have a larger family, one can't really wait until after their residency to do so.
My opinion on this issue being LDS, from BYU, and a KCOMer is more like yoursef. What happens happens. When it happens, it happens. And in the meantime I am going to work to getting the best education at the best institutions, and let the rest of life occur naturally and enjoy the pleasures of bacherlorhood.
This is my perspective anyway.

 

[rbassdo]

Originally posted by dkwyler94

As far as the baby pumping issue. I believe that comes from something else. I think it is a mixture of the western culture where the average family size is larger and the emphasis the LDS faith places on family is also a factor. If from this and other factors, one decides they want to have a larger family, one can't really wait until after their residency to do so.

Thanks for your insights, dkwyler94. BYU must be one swinging shindig! I do have to rebut one observation you made about the "Western World" and say that the emphasis on larger families is not what it used to be. In fact...our morality rates are higher than our birth rates. The only "Western" country where this is not true is Albania. Albania happens to be the only Muslim nation in the Western World. Interesting eh! Westerners are a dying breed. Also...people just aren't getting married like they used to. All this is to say that the LDS sub-culture becomes even more unusual in light of modern Western trends. Thanks again.

Anyone else have insights?

Ryan

 

[dkwyler94]

Good call on the western culture. I meant western US, not the western world. Not exactly what I said. Mostly I was refering to the Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Arizona region.

 

[jhug]

i just had to chime in on this one....being lds and azcom bound. What is "meant" to happen WILL!! and it most likely won't be what you had in mind! I had to laugh at the pumping out kids comment because my wife and i just had triplets! So being younger looking, married at a relatively young age (23- now 25), having three kids and, worst of all, driving a minivan means we fit right into the mormon stereotype!!! At airports, restaurants, the few movies we've ventured into with the kidlets, we get the-- "you must be mormon" comments all the time! As crazy and foreign as it must sound-- it doesn't get much better than this!!!

On more of a serious note, being concerned about dating/getting married probably stems from the fact that 4 yrs of med school and at least 3 more for residency makes you about 30 before you are free to really start dating--

 

[rbassdo]

Thanks for your comments jhug. Let the record state that I think marriage/kids is/are great when the time is right. Is it pure chance that that time is right for most mormons but for few others (at least at my school)? That's the interesting question.

 

[tristan]

rbassdo,

Thanks for your interest in the thread. Here's the answer to your question. Having a lot of LDS single females in a place where I go to medschool is important to me because I want to get married. dkwyler is right on the money. BYU has it's own culture in this aspect because families are really imortant to us. Being already 27 because I started college late and went on an LDS mission, my chances are becoming slim. In some ways, I agree that it will happen when it happen, but if I'm not dating or if I have no one to date, it really won't happen. I could sit around my butt waiting or I could date a lot of people and find someone I connect with. I choose to be proactive.

To me this criterion is just as important as location or school reputation is to you. I guess it's just my thing.

 

[rbassdo]

Originally posted by tristan
rbassdo,

Thanks for your interest in the thread. Here's the answer to your question. Having a lot of LDS single females in a place where I go to medschool is important to me because I want to get married. dkwyler is right on the money. BYU has it's own culture in this aspect because families are really imortant to us. Being already 27 because I started college late and went on an LDS mission, my chances are becoming slim. In some ways, I agree that it will happen when it happen, but if I'm not dating or if I have no one to date, it really won't happen. I could sit around my butt waiting or I could date a lot of people and find someone I connect with. I choose to be proactive.

To me this criterion is just as important as location or school reputation is to you. I guess it's just my thing.

Thanks tristan. What you said about being pro-active rings true for many people - I'm sure. I, on the other hand, kind of chuckled when I read that because it seems like when I'm "proactive"...nothing really happens. It's when I couldn't give a s**t that I find someone I'd like to date.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do and remember...the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that it's better to be single for many important reasons.

Ryan

 

[dctrben]

Tristan,

I feel your pain, I was 26 when I got married and felt like an old man. Now, K'ville here is not full of many dating opportunities. There is one of my classmates that is a member and he gets lonely from time to time, but whenever he gets home he gets his dates in. (It doesn't hurt that my wife thinks he is great and keeps trying to hook him up with friends) Anyway, no the dating scene here for a single member is not good. Especially when you compare it to BYU. The city is great and after two years you can get out of here to 'greener pastures' so to speak. It is a tough decision, I wish I could paint a brighter picture, but I can't.

There is one point I would like to make, though. My wife and I met on the internet. Now, I know that we are definately the exception and not the rule, but things have worked out great for us. It is another option you may look into while you are here.

Good luck in your decision making.

Ben

 

[andrea]

Hey Tristan,

Thanks for your honesty about what you're looking for in a school. As a single first year female at KCOM, I can definitely sympathize! In fact, I think our plights are actually quite similar.

You see, theoretically you'd think that with 2/3 of the class being male, I'd have great odds to find my SO. But it's not the case. It seems incredibly difficult to connect with others in a non-school setting, unless I were to go to the bar on the weekend. But that's not really where I'd want to go to have meaningful conversation.

So unless I can get to know someone in the 15 minute interval between studying for different classes, it's pretty much a no go. And unless I want to date my little brother (I'm 24), Truman doesn't work too well either.

Maybe we should post a singles classifieds board at KCOM. (-: Go straight to the punch. But I guess ultimately, I'd agree with Ryan - what will be will be. It's just not always easy waiting for it.

Take care,
Andrea

 

[tristan]

Hey guys,

I appreciate all your comments. You guys have been really supportive and honest. Last Monday I had to decide between KCOM and DMU. One hour before I had to mail the acceptance fee, I still didn't know which school I would go to. In the end I decided to go to DMU. I know it's less prestigious and less demanding. However, I just couldn't let go of having a dating life. So I guess I won't be seeing you good people this fall. But I know we all will be future colleagues. There aren't too many DOs. Thanks again guys.

 

[jhug]

tristan, consider this a win/win decision. Best of luck to you and in all your future endeavors!!

 

[rbassdo]

Tristan,

Good luck finding that "mormon mistress!" DMU's a great school. My favorite doc is a DMU grad.