At 9 a.m. on May 9, Kaylie Thompson should have been in Grady Gammage Auditorium, waiting to receive the diploma she'd been working toward for four years.
Instead, a friend accepted the degree on behalf of the sustainability senior, who died just a week before she was set to graduate.
Samantha Casey, who graduated from the W. P. Carey School of Business the same day, said it was the least she could do for Thompson. The two had been friends since their sophomore year, when they both lived in the Block 1949 apartment complex on East University and South McClintock drives.
"She was just super giggly and funny," Casey said. "She was always in a good mood."
She and Thompson were roommates for the past two years, and Casey said they loved staying up late together and driving around town with no destination.
"We thought everything was funny," Casey said. "We would just look at each other and start laughing. The best part about us was doing nothing and just having fun."
She said Thompson enjoyed shopping and traveling. She traveled with friends, including Casey, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for spring break and spent one semester studying abroad in London.
Thompson was devoted to her cat, an orange tabby named Cole, and was always supportive of her friends, Casey said.
"You could tell her anything and she could make you feel better about it," she said.
Hannah Underhill, who also graduated from ASU in May, met Thompson on the first day of their freshman year. Underhill was riding her bicycle on the Tempe campus when she quite literally ran into Thompson.
The two hit it off, and have been friends for the last four years. They lived as "wall mates" in adjoining townhouses this year, and they planned on moving to San Diego together after graduation, Underhill said.
She said Thompson was one of the most laid-back people she'd ever met, and that she especially appreciated this whenever she was worried or anxious.
"She always had a non-judgmental attitude about everything," Underhill said. "She just lived every single day super mellow."
Underhill and Thompson went out on a Thursday night a few weeks ago. At some point after going home and going to sleep, Thompson became sick and choked.
When Underhill found her the next morning, Thompson was brain-dead from the lack of oxygen. She died surrounded by her family and friends at the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center.
Thompson's friends and family held a memorial service in her hometown of Austin, Texas, on May 19. Another remembrance is scheduled for June 11, which would have been her 22nd birthday.
Underhill said she would remember Thompson as one of the funniest people she'd ever met and a really easy person to be around.
"A lot of us try to pretend to be carefree," Underhill said. "Kaylie didn't have to try."
Journalism senior Roxana Baldovin said in an email that she barely knew Thompson, but that she was a very special person.
"Her energy was something that always illuminated a room," Baldovin said. "She had a spark that was comparable to none."
Reach the managing editor at julia.shumway@asu.edu or follow @JMShumway on Twitter.
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