We met in a study lounge in Middlebrook Hall, a co-ed dorm at the University of Minnesota. It was freshman year - fall of 2018. A month into my first semester at college, my roommate, Ruby, and I finally got to move from the St Paul campus to the Minneapolis West Bank campus (we hated how tiny St Paul was and how it was far away from our classes). However, we each had gotten assigned different roommates on different floors. I hung out on Ruby's floor since neither of us knew anyone else. That's when I met Andrei in the 5th floor study lounge. We clicked right away. I couldn't believe how much we had in common! We both immigrated to the US with our moms when we were young. Our stepdads were American. We were both fluent in our native languages but were struggling to maintain the skill. For the first time since I moved to America, I felt like someone finally understood me when I talked about the niche 1.5 gen immigrant experiences. Here's my first impression of Andrei: he's a funny and smart guy, but he tries a little too hard to appear "cool." I can tell that he's got a weird sense of humor like me, but he doesn't like to show it when there's other people around. Soon enough, Andrei started getting comfortable around me and became one of my best friends. We hung out in the 5th floor study lounge every week, most of the time not getting any actual studying done. He would bring me grapes and other snacks. We'd talk, study, and joke around for hours. Time seemed to fly by crazy fast whenever we were together. How lucky am I to marry my best friend :)

In the fall of 2018, I started my freshman year at the University of Minnesota. The campus seemed large and beautiful, with over 50,000 students enrolled. There were very few people I knew on campus, so one of my goals was to make new friends. This was easiest in the residence halls, where me and my neighbors spent most of our time. I started by studying with others, joining various activities that were happening on my floor, and hanging out with my neighbors. A few weeks into the semester, I noticed new people in one of the study rooms. That is when I met Katie and her friend; they had just transferred from the dorm a few miles away from the main campus. Katie lived on a different floor, but came to visit her friend on my floor. We saw each other in the study room often, and we talked about many things. Our conversations felt natural, our pasts were similar, we liked the same music, and we laughed at the same jokes. As the weeks went on, we started hanging out around the dorm, studying at various libraries, and would meet to eat lunch almost daily at the newest dorm on campus. Before the final exams started in December, I asked Katie out on our first date, to go ice skating and watch the fireworks at Holidazzle. Over winter break, she visited China with her family for a few weeks. Throughout those same weeks, I thought about how much we laughed together, how long we talked for, and how much I missed her. When she came back from China, I asked her to be my girlfriend. That was over six years ago. Time has passed quickly since then, and now we're planning our wedding.