Khoury News
From carpool to marriage: An unexpected co-op love story
For most Northeastern students, co-op is a valuable source of experience, skill-building, and professional savvy. But for two Khoury students in the summer of 2010, it was so much more.
When Wensheng Mao arrived at Northeastern in 2009 as a computer science and psychology major, he expected to leave with a degree, some work experience, a better grasp of English, and knowledge of Java and AI.
What he did not expect was to meet his future wife. But in the summer of 2010, during his first co-op, chance and his Boston commute changed that.
Wensheng had just landed a software engineering co-op at Isobar, an e-commerce and digital marketing company whose clients included Adidas, Coach, HBO, Coca-Cola, JBL, and other high-profile brands. The only issue? The commute.
“About one hour by bus, with a transfer,” Wensheng recalled. “Driving along the Charles River would take only about 15 minutes.”
With that in mind, Wensheng bought a car. It was while discussing this in the West Village H lab, Wensheng’s favorite spot on campus, that his future wife introduced herself.
“Someone tapped my shoulder, and they said, ‘Hey, are you also going to Isobar for co-op?’” Wensheng said. “That was the first time I met her, in the lab because we were both doing homework.”
That student was Zhe, a first-year graduate student in computer science. She had started her co-op a month earlier, facing the same long commute from Fenway.
“For her, taking the bus every day was a challenge. She sometimes fell asleep and missed the stop. So, she suggested we carpool,” Wensheng said. “I didn’t know her at all, but it made sense — we were going to the same place every day and we both lived near campus in Fenway.”
From then on, Wensheng picked up Zhe each morning. They drove to the office together, worked together, and took lunch breaks together.
“We got to know each other very quickly,” Wensheng said. “We talked about work, computer science, and being international students from China.”
Both were navigating a new country, a new language, and a demanding field of study.
“We were learning English and Java at the same time,” Wensheng said. “It was challenging; my first semester I understood maybe half of what the professor said. But sharing those struggles made our connection stronger.”
Wensheng and Zhe began spending time together outside of work as well, meeting at birthday parties for mutual friends or catching up on campus. Within two months, they were officially a couple. And although their co-op ended six months later, their relationship did not. Within three months, they moved in together.
“It may not be the advice I’d give everyone,” Wensheng said. “But for us, it felt natural.”
Periods of long distance would follow. Wensheng’s second co-op took him to Intuit in San Diego while Zhe stayed in Boston for the final year of her master’s degree. Upon graduating, Zhe moved to California while Wensheng stayed in Boston to complete his undergraduate degree.
“We were apart for about a year and a half. Sometimes I flew back to Boston, sometimes she visited me, or we’d meet in places like Las Vegas,” Wensheng said.
Once they reunited in California following Wensheng’s graduation, they never had to do long distance again. The couple married at San Francisco City Hall in 2017, had their first son the following year, and welcome their second two years after that. Today, they live in the Bay Area, where Wensheng works as engineering manager at Airbnb and Zhe continues her tech career at Meta. Wensheng still credits Northeastern’s co-op program — and Khoury College — for bringing them together.
“Without co-op, we might never have met,” Wensheng said. “We’d have been at different companies with no reason to cross paths.”
Still, he’s careful to add a disclaimer.
“I don’t want to promote office romances,” Wensheng said with a laugh, noting that their story is more about the human connections that can form over shared challenges, cultures, and experiences. “We were both far from home, trying to learn and adapt. That bond is powerful.”
For current Northeastern students, Wensheng’s advice is straightforward — be open to small opportunities.
“I was just talking about my co-op in the lab. If she hadn’t overheard me, maybe nothing would have happened. Sometimes it’s those small moments that change your life,” he said. “I met my lifelong partner and best friend. The relationship has been steady, supportive, and full of understanding. And it all started with a simple question: ‘Are you also going to Isobar for co-op?’”
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