College sophomore Annie Tang, remembered by her classmates as dedicated and inspirational, passed away shortly after New Year's Day. She was 19.
According to her friends, Tang's passing was due to a stomach virus.
Tang was a resident of Gaithersburg, Md. and planned on double majoring in chemistry and biology. Tang was active on campus – she was a member of the Delta Phi Lambda sorority and a volunteer at the Emory Children's Center. As a result of elections last fall, she was set to assume the position of assistant affiliate member educator at Delta Phi Lambda this spring.
Outside of coursework and extracurriculars, Tang had many talents. According to College junior Janelle Elysee, Tang was a skillful painter and an accomplished athlete, having played club soccer before her years at Emory. The Delta Phi Lambda website also notes that she was a basketball fan who passionately rooted for the Mavericks.
Tang's funeral was held in Bethesda, Md. on Jan. 8. An additional memorial service was held at Emory on Monday, which was attended by Tang's father. Attendees lit candles and wrote words of encouragement for Tang's father while many friends of Tang spoke about her. One such friend was Ling Lu, who had met Annie in the fall of 2011.
"Annie had many different sides to her," Lu said. "Besides the strong and mature girl I had first seen, she was silly and adventurous too. Most strikingly of all, Annie had the gift of understanding and compassionately loving others ... the pains, the joys, the fears in life, Annie understood them all."
College junior Parul Reddy echoed this sentiment when she spoke of Tang's personability. "Every time I passed her she would always give me a smile or wave without fail," Reddy said.
Reddy also commented on Tang's academic excellence.
"The first thing that came to mind when I thought about her was how brilliant she was," she said.
Additionally, Annie Farrel, president of Delta Phi Lambda, recalled her own relationship with Tang in the sorority.
"Even though I'm a senior and she was a sophomore, I really did look up to her," Farrel wrote in an email to the Wheel. "She always carried herself with such a presence that commanded attention ... she will be missed."
– By Rajiv Velury
