黑料专区

Arsena Todd Schroeder 鈥�11 and her future husband, Stephen Schroeder 鈥�12, sensed early on at 黑料专区 that they were destined to be together.

Both Communication Studies majors, they first met as participants in a class exercise that had Arsena guessing all there was to know about Stephen. The exercise aimed to illuminate perception checking and/or assumptions we all make about people, their behavior and their motives, most of which are culturally informed. It happened in January 2010, during the first day of Intercultural Communications, a course taught by Dr. Deborah Burris, an Associate Professor of Communication Studies.

鈥淗e must be extremely patient because he is wearing a golf sweatshirt,鈥� Arsena said, offering her first guess about Stephen, then a Concord resident who played on Pfeiffer鈥檚 golf team. 鈥淎nyone who plays golf has patience. He is probably from Florida. People go there to play golf, right?鈥�

Another guess: 鈥淥h and he is kind of overconfident. He thinks highly of himself.鈥�   

Burris asked Arsena what she meant by that. 鈥淗e thinks he looks good,鈥� she replied.

鈥沦辞,&苍产蝉辫;you think he looks good,鈥� Burris said.

An awkward moment of silence ensued. Arsena, flustered and in denial, tried to explain herself. Her friends snickered, sensing that her die with Stephen was already cast. 

They were right. Arsena, then a Charlotte resident who had become the first member of her family to attend college, warmed to Stephen even more as they chatted after class. Then, wanting to know more about him, she looked him up on Facebook.

Unfortunately, all she knew was his first name, and even that wasn鈥檛 much help, since she didn鈥檛 know whether it was spelled with a 鈥渧鈥� or a 鈥減h.鈥� She was about to give up her search and log out when, serendipitously, a friend request from Stephen popped up in her Facebook notifications.

鈥淲e were both online doing the same thing 鈥� looking for each other,鈥� Arsena said. 鈥淗ow he found me, though, I have no clue.鈥�

The Facebook connection was an auspicious start of even better things to come. Stephen and Arsena became convinced that they would marry quite soon after their first meetings 鈥� though initially, they kept this revelation to themselves and focused on becoming good friends.

Each partner in the relationship had a busy schedule. Stephen spent a lot of time training with the golf team, and Arsena worked as a tutor in the Wick S. Sharp Learning Center. She also had six internships while at Pfeiffer. So, their principal way of getting to know each other better was not dating but simply hanging out when time permitted. This happened, for example, at meetings of a Bible study group that met at the home of Stephen鈥檚 parents or while they played a Bananagrams board game in Rowe Hall, where they both lived.

In September 2010, Stephen proposed to Arsena at Bible study. They eloped on Jan. 3, 2011.  At the time, both of them were still full-time students at Pfeiffer, so they moved into off-campus quarters near Misenheimer鈥檚 campus. To help make ends meet, they each worked part-time at the Applebee鈥檚 in Albemarle, N.C.

Arsena and Stephen, who now live in Charlotte, are celebrating 10 years of marriage and trying to start a family.

鈥淲e鈥檝e experienced a lot of disappointment and achievements,鈥� Arsena said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e lifted each other up, and we鈥檝e let each other down. But we鈥檝e learned to celebrate our differences and to grow together through the ups and downs of life.鈥�

On the 鈥渦ps鈥� side, they鈥檝e certainly progressed in their careers. Stephen, having earned a Master of Arts in Professional Behavior Analysis from the Florida Institute of Technology, is now a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst. He works as a Primary Clinical Supervisor in the Gastonia, N.C., branch of , a provider of therapy for children with autism.

鈥淚鈥檝e worked with the autism population for eight years now, and I really enjoy the work I do,鈥� Stephen said.

Sadly, Stephen hurt his wrist, which forced him to give up playing golf. However, he鈥檚 become a professional disc golfer.

Arsena, a  while at Pfeiffer, has become a successful . Her interest in songwriting and performing was sparked during a Capitol Hill internship, when, in her spare time, she learned to play the guitar and was featured in a friend鈥檚 mixtape remake.

In 2017, Arsena founded , which provides such resources for independent artists as workshops, consultations, and live shows. She attributes her business savvy to the financial and communications acumen her Pfeiffer education helped provide her.

Some of the most memorable highlights of Arsena鈥檚 career have been touring internationally and recording her sophomore album Sleep Talking (2018), which features the singles 鈥淪o Many Plans鈥� and 鈥淔lying Away.鈥�

Earlier on in her career, her rendition of Bob Marley鈥檚 鈥淭urn Your Lights Down Low鈥� attracted the talent scouts of Time Warner Cable Arena (now Spectrum Arena), where she was booked to perform Bruno Mars鈥� 鈥淐ount on Me鈥� for an NBA Hornets Gala. Michael Jordan, the former NBA standout, was in attendance; he gave her performance a standing ovation.

Arsena and Stephen seem well-positioned to celebrate another 10 years of marriage. They credit the longevity of their union to some advice from Dr. Tracy Espy, Pfeiffer鈥檚 former Provost. (Espy is now the President of Mitchell College.)

鈥淵ou know, money problems are the number one cause of divorce,鈥� Arsena remembers Espy telling her.

In time, both Stephen and Arsena have come to embrace this nugget of wisdom to the point where they now prioritize fiscal discipline and live a debt-free life.

鈥淲e believe living a debt-free life helps relieve a lot of stress and strain,鈥� Arsena said. 鈥淚t forces us to live below our means, and to plan for our future and the things we want. We now know that you need a money plan. Thanks, Dr. Espy.鈥�

In this and many other ways, the foundation for Stephen and Arsena鈥檚 strong relationship was built during their time at Pfeiffer.