After Sudha Sneha Devarakonda and Karthik Kumar met through a mutual friend, they kept running into each other on the way to and from campus, at the gym, the library and even a graduate teaching assistant workshop.
“Eventually we decided to give dating a shot,” she says. “Walking to Einstein Bros. at the Havener Center for breakfast almost became a ritual for us. Being there for each others’ highs and lows – bad finances, house hunts, thesis presentations, first internship, first job, graduation – just helped us bond better.”
In 2010, Kumar earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and Sudha earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering. The pair married in 2012 and have two children.
“We always look back to our days in Rolla with great fondness as they have been the foundation to our relationship,” she says. “We came to establish our careers, but left with many experiences far more priceless, just one of them being our partnership.”
Their relationship advice?
“Working toward a graduate degree can sometimes be very stressful,” she says. “Meeting that special someone can help but sometimes be a distraction as well. It’s all about balancing personal and academic. At the end, the right person can become your pillar of strength through all those trying times.”
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).
Making the perfect snacks
Frito-Lay’s Topeka, Kansas, plant operates 24 hours a day, so while most of us are sleeping, Catherine Swift, a 2010…
Amanda (Kay Hansen) and Chris Byrd
It was a fire drill at TJ Residence Hall in September 1999 that first brought Amanda (Kay Hansen) and Chris…
Leading a national lab
At Sandia National Laboratories, Joan Woodard, a mathematics graduate in 1973, was the executive vice president and deputy laboratories director…
Remmers series: the talk of the town
A professor once called Walter Remmers, MetE’23, MS MetE’24, “the laziest man in school.” And Remmers owned up to it….
For the love of circuits
Emily Hernandez, who earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2016, began recruiting minorities to STEM fields even before…
Lynnae (Kempf) and Joe Wilson
Lynnae (Kempf) and Joe Wilson met and became friends during their first week on campus as freshmen. “I was on…