QiQi Li ’27

I met my closest friends at WellesleyPlus, a program supporting FGLI students in their transition to college by strengthening academic skills and building campus social capital. During our retreat, we celebrated birthdays, shared stories, and made vision boards. We took the first-year friendship seminar together, where our bond continued. Sophomore year, we lived in the same hall or took the same classes by chance, deepening our connection. Junior year, we worked for the Office of Student Success, took another class together, and studied abroad in the same place. As first-generation students, we navigated college with uncertainties and nights in the Science Center struggling through CS projects, math psets, and music sheets. We also found joy in cake, hotpot, and malatang. These friendships grounded me at Wellesley and reminded me I belonged. I will cherish these moments and the friends who stayed by my side, carrying them with me beyond Wellesley.