Raíssa Sousa and Welenton Webler were both exchange students from Brazil when they met in August 2015.
“We didn’t know each other before since he’s from Santa Catarina state and I’m from São Paulo state, more than 620 miles apart,” she says. “The day I arrived at Miner Village, he offered to help me with my suitcases since my room was on the third floor and, when he picked one up, the handle broke.”
Raíssa studied petroleum engineering and Welenton studied computer engineering while at Rolla. The pair would often walk to campus and have breakfast together at the Havener Center or at the Starbucks cafe inside the library.
Today the couple lives in Brazil, where Raíssa works for Bayer and Welenton works for Amazon Web Services.
Their relationship advice?
“Listen and support each other in both good and challenging times,” she says.
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