2004 Riverhead grad marries college sweetheart

STEPHANIE ROEHRIG EFFKEN

THEN
Age: 17
Year graduated: 2004 Riverhead High School
Interests: Playing the flute, performing community outreach
What's Ahead: Theology major with a minor in parish music at Concordia University in Seward, Neb.

NOW
Age 24
Current residence: Omaha, Neb.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications, Concordia, 2007.
Occupation: Account manager, JM Web Designs

Effken switched to a communications major at Concordia University in Seward, Neb., a year into her studies there, when her original aim to become a director of Christian education didn’t seem like the job she thought it was going to be.

Graduating a semester early in December 2007, she got married a few weeks later to college sweetheart Chris Effken, of Friend, Neb., population 995.

Growing up in Jamesport, she had seen a fair number of farms, “but those are like little house gardens compared to here,” she said.

With her bachelor’s degree carrying concentrations in public relations, journalism and interpersonal communications, Effken started out as a general assignment reporter for the Seward County Independent, where she was “very over-worked and very underpaid.” She and her husband, a biologist, moved to Omaha in August 2008 when he got a job at a lab there.

Working as a restaurant server as she hunted for a full-time job for more than a year, she’s now an account manager at JM Web Designs in Omaha, shepherding clients through the web design process while doing some blogging and social media.

On the side, Effken and her husband enjoy brewing their own beer and visiting breweries around the country. You can follow their exploits at thegreatbeerventure.com.