Growing up Robbie Rounds never had a place to call home.
Drifting from place to place because of his father’s enrollment in the army left Rounds with hometowns in two different countries and three different states.
“My family is pretty much from Iowa, but I have lived six years in Germany and North Carolina, a year in England and three years in Colorado,” said Rounds. “My favorite place to live was England because it’s close to everywhere, it’s seems a lot closer than what you would expect the states to be like in America.”
Being a military brat had its ups and downs, but after graduating high school in Middleton, Colorado Rounds decided to further his travels.
An avid Hawkeye fan at a young age, Rounds furthered his education at University of Iowa as a Management Information Systems Major.
The 22 year old also decided to do something that most incoming college students don’t worry about until after college graduation. He proposed to his then girlfriend, Ashley, and a year later they were married on July 7, 2007, a year after he graduated from high school.
“We met working at a Sonic Drive-In in Denver, Colorado,” said Rounds. “I knew that she was the one and there was no doubt that I wanted to go shop around. We already committed ourselves to the 2 ½ year relationship, so we decided to get married.”
Rounds, whose been married to his wife for almost four years, views marriage in college as having more positives than negatives. Not having to worry about finding a significant other during college is a positive for Rounds and many other stress relievers.
“I think overall her and I are more mature people, we grew up faster than most college students,” said Rounds. “The advantage of marriage is you know who you are going to live with and you don’t have to worry about your roommate who you don’t like. The only hard part is sometimes you just want some alone time, but that’s just marriage in general.”
Rounds understands the meaning of family. A father to be with a baby boy on it’s way in late July, Rounds own family was always there for him from moving location to location and the young age marriage.
“My true family is the people that I traveled with from location to location,” said Rounds. “My parents were married at a young age of 19, they understand that when you find that certain person and you know they are the one, that’s it.”
As he sits in the basement of IIHR-Hydraulics Laboratory, his current place of employment, Rounds sits in his blue computer chair with his arm at ease on the armrest.
“Honestly, looking back I think it’s boring to live in one place,” said Rounds, who graduates in May. “I feel that I am well rounded and more accepting of the world. I feel that I have had more experiences than most people.”
One can tell that the decisions he has made in his past have been some of his best decisions.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Iowa chapter.