In the short two and a half months Whitney Young was a stuudent at Mesa she left a lasting impression on the campus and the community.

A common theme in the life of Young was her willingness to help others, a lesson that is sure to resonate throughout.

Thanks to a group of students who pleaded to the Associated Student Government, a memorial for Young was held on Nov. 29.

At 19, Young had her whole life ahead of her. She dreamed of being a teacher, which was cut short due to a hit-and-run on Nov. 12. Instead of focusing on the unfortunate circumstances surrounding her death, Young’s life was remembered as one full of possibilities.

“A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam.” An excerpt from a poem that couldn’t have better described the effect Young had on the people around her. The memorial, attended by family and faculty focused on the qualities that best described who Young was and the impact she made in such a short time.

As more and more people stood at the podium it became clear that in celebrating Young it would also be a celebration of her kind heartedness and warmth that many of the people around her could attest to.

In Steve Young’s, Whitney’s father, testament he writes: “One theme that has been expressed in different ways in different messages is that Whitney was kind to people. I am so proud of Whitney in so many different ways but I want to dwell on one of her features and that was her kindness to others.”

At the podium though, Steve Young was at a loss for words. He said he could not say anymore about his daughter that had already been said. He then proceeded to donate $1,000 to the Whitney Young Scholarship that was created in her memory.

Other heartfelt speeches followed. Spanish professor Virginia Sanchez Bernardy added that Young was “the kind of student every professor would like to have in his or her class,” having been able to teach her for a little over two months.

The ceremony also included poetry readings by Young’s family, as well as musical interludes that captured her spirit. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “In The Distance” both paid tribute to a young woman that had so many dreams and so much more ahead of her.

When the memorial service ended, the attendees were invited up to the makeshift altar. They took a small stone, scribbled a message on it, and dropped it into a glass container. Looking over the stones there we’re messages like “Always Remembered” and “We Miss You.”

As more and more stones filled the jar it became more apparent that her impact will leave a lasting impression.

Young died in a hit-and-run accident some time around 3 a.m. allegedly by 20-year-old Eric Joseph Leeman at the intersection of Montezuma Road near the San Diego State University campus.

Young died on Nov. 16 after suffering severe brain trauma and multiple broken bones from the accident

Leeman was arrested on Nov. 16 after an officer spotted his burgundy BMW in his driveway that fit an identical description to the car they believed was used in the accident. After entering a plea of not guilty, the preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 11.

While it is believed alcohol may have been involved, Leeman said he wasn’t drinking that night and that he thought he had hit an animal.

The tragedy is a sad loss for Mesa and the community as well. As her family put it, it would be so “Whitney” to help others that her organs were donated to four different people, saving four different lives. It’s this kind of gesture that Young should be remembered for.