Dear Kevin-
I have been wanting to reach out to you sooner but unsure of the words I would use, I am so sorry for your loss, I can only imagine what you have been through.
When I heard of Anna’s passing I was heartbroken and definitely have shed many tears thinking of her. I was her professor for 3 courses, she took two of my general chemistry courses (Chem. 6A and Chem. 6C) her freshman year and then my recombinant DNA lab (Chem. 109) during Winter quarter of this year. The general chemistry courses have class sizes of over 400 students and I’m afraid I don’t remember specific things about Anna in those courses, except that I recognized her when she took Chem. 109. She was surprised when I told her I recognized her from freshman year. She was a quiet student that did her work but kept to herself….which made her the type of student that I try to get to know more. Her lab partner Shih-ting Huang (he goes by Terry) was the opposite and had quite the personality. When I would walk into the lab through the main door, Anna and Terry’s bench was one of the first I would see and go up to. I would often joke with Terry and give Anna a nudge to see if I made her smile – it took a couple times but eventually I could get her to laugh. By the end of the quarter I had her smiling at me when I would come in and we would both be joking with Terry.
The lab she was in was a smaller lab (only about 15 students) so they all got to know each other pretty well. I have reached out to Terry and asked his permission to share his email with you, he has thanked me for asking and would be happy to talk with you. His email is shh132@ucsd.edu. The teaching assistant in charge of her lab would also be happy to talk to you and share anything he can, his name is Kyle Shumate and his email is ktshumat@ucsd.edu.
I hope this information will give you some comfort to know that Anna was liked and respected by those around her. She has touched our lives. I have her last lab report that she submitted on March 20th – if you would like me to mail it to you I would be happy to do so, I will just need your address.
You and your family will always be in my prayers and thoughts.
Sincerely,
UCSD Professor, Christina Johnson Via Email