By DeNae Thomas
Assistant Lifestyles Editor
If you see junior Brett Myer walking around campus, ask him about the cross tattooed on his wedding finger. He will have a pretty romantic story to share.
In December Myer proposed to his fiancée, Heather Blake, who also has a tattoo cross on her wedding finger.
“Getting matching crosses was an idea I had because I always knew I was going to propose to her eventually,” Myer said. “It is a permanent symbol signifying our bond with Christ.”
Now that they are engaged with a wedding date of July 26, the tattoo also symbolizes their commitment to each other under God.
“The ring not only represents my bond with Christ, but also a bond with her because she has the same symbol,” Myer said. “On top of that, because the cross will be under our wedding rings, it’s a constant reminder that God is supposed to be the foundation in our relationship and in our everyday life.”
Blake, who is also a junior, attends Azusa Pacific University and lives in Pasadena, 40 minutes away from Pepperdine. Myer said it is unfortunate that they only get to see each other a few times a week and on weekends, but next year that will all change.
While each of them finishes college next year, Myer said they plan to live in an apartment between the two schools and commute. They are both applying for a position with the Peace Corps in May and hope to enroll after graduation next spring.
As for now, Myer said he is just glad they are in the same state. Blake and Myer were high school sweethearts in their hometown, Overland Park, Kan., but have not been in the same place since then because Myer was in Argentina last year.
What was your favorite thing about living in Buenos Aires last year?
I enjoyed the opportunity to speak Spanish and be in a foreign environment where no one thinks the way we do here. It’s just a different place. People act differently and speak differently and think differently. It was my first overseas experience and it was really interesting to get a different perspective on my home country, especially because we were there during Sept. 11. You hear things you wouldn’t hear if you were back home.
What are you going to do with a Humanities major?
I wanted to be a humanities major because I could never decide what I wanted to do and I decided that it doesn’t matter what I want to do, I just know I need to learn first. I think that humanities is the area I can do that best in because it’s broad, but not too broad. They say you change jobs so much that I couldn’t see myself studying only one area. I want to study just to study. They say those who like education become educators so teaching is probably what I’m going to do.
What is one thing you definitely want to do in your lifetime?
Eventually I would like to have a pottery shop. That’s my ultimate goal. Probably after retirement, but hopefully sooner. I think it would be cool to have studio space to rent out to other artists and we could sell all the work. I was big into pottery in high school and freshman year at Pepperdine I taught pottery in a class at Malibu High School. Everyone has to be able to know good and bad things about themselves, so it’s good to know both sides of how the world perceives the U.S. — the good and the bad.
Why did you want to come to California rather then stay in Kansas for college?
The ocean. I wanted to get out and try something new so I figured a school right by the ocean would definitely be something different from anything I knew.
How are the wedding plans coming for the big day in July?
We have already planned most of the big things. We took care of a lot of the major stuff when we went home for Christmas because we knew that we would have to make reservations. We just have to do lots of little things, like figuring out the order of services and things like that. I try and help Heather out, but I’m not good at planning things, period. She wants input on things and I do what I can to try and help. Fortunately, she’s really good at planning and is really organized. I’m still trying to figure out how to be organized, but I am a lot more so than I was before college.
Do people tell you you’re too young to get married?
People that know us don’t. I’m 21, I’ll be 22 when we get married. I don’t worry about it because we have been together so long. A lot of prayer and thought and preparation have gone into it. It was not just a random decision for both of us.
How did you propose?
I built a box out of wood about a cubic foot … a mini-treasure chest. I did everything myself and lined the inside with velvet. I put the ring in the box and had it locked. We had a picnic set up on the beach December 7. I gave her another box with a key in it that she had to dig up.
Then she unlocked the box with the ring in it. Before she opened it I told her the key symbolizes something that is in the box which represents the key to my heart, which is something you will have for the rest of our lives. She was totally surprised. She thought we were just going to have a picnic on the beach. As soon as the box came out she was wondering what was with the box and as soon as she saw the key obviously she knew, but other than that, everything was a complete surprise.
Will you enter the Peace Corps after graduation?
It takes nine to 12 months to find out if you get accepted in the Peace Corps, so around May Heather and I are going to each fill out an application.
We will find out if we get accepted next year, so when we graduate we hope to go into the Peace Corps somewhere. People can apply as a married couple and live together. It’s all about volunteer work in a different country and helping other people, so we don’t really care where we go.
We decided that when we fill out the application we will say that we don’t have a preference. I don’t think the chances of being sent to the Middle East are very good. Peace Corps people are usually kept safe and out of harm’s way, so I don’t worry about that much.
When you can get cafe points from friends, what is your favorite meal in the cafeteria?
Calzones are good. I never had a calzone that wasn’t good from the cafe.
Do you have a shout out to anyone?
I had dread locks for six months when I was in Buenos Aires, so I want to give a shout out to my long lost dread locks. Rest in peace dreadlocks.
March 20, 2003
