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.
Share This Story
Spark a Memory?
Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).
David and Karen (Miller) Sorrell
In the spring semester of 1979, David Sorrell was looking for an “easy A” during his senior year at Missouri…
A civil war fortress
As the Civil War raged on, the Union Army, following a defeat at Wilson’s Creek in southwest Missouri, fell back…
Giving others an opportunity
Steven Frey works to ensure others have the opportunity to attend graduate programs at S&T like he did. Frey says…
Titanoboa – reptile king of the prehistoric rainforest
Sixty million years ago in the steamy prehistoric forests of what is now Colombia, there slithered a 50-foot, 2,500-pound reptile….
Serial entrepreneurship
Gary Havener, a 1962 graduate in mathematics, is the founder of several companies, with business dealings including real estate development…
Earthquake stops baseball, starts inspections
Kamila Crane, who earned a bachelor’s degree (1985) and master’s degree (1986) in civil engineering, was prepared to start rebuilding…