People were more important than anything else to Karen Kwok, an
18-year-old UCLA business and economics student who died April
20.
“Her goal in life was to love people,” said Aida
Sun, a first-year microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics
student and Kwok’s roommate.
Though Kwok was a good student, friends say her first priority
was not academics. Kwok cared more about the joys and tribulations
of her friends.
Kwok always carried around a book filled with personal prayers
for her family, as well as problems her friends, country and the
world were having, said Joanne Liaw, a third-year psychology
student and Kwok’s close friend.
“She loved to go around and surprise people from the back
by giving them a hug,” Sun said.
Along with praying for her friends, Kwok made a special effort
to talk to people on her floor and help people resolve their
problems, Sun said.
“She was one of those people everyone on the floor
knew,” said Euna Oh, a first-year mathematics student.
Kwok went home to her family in Monterey Park almost every
weekend and would often have three-hour phone conversations with
her brother, Sun said.
Sometimes, Kwok was known as being childish, but this only
emphasized her love for life, friends said.
“We’d always be joking around, and she had this
special way of saying bye-bye which was really funny,” Liaw
said.
Kwok’s lighthearted demeanor was evident after she
recently became frustrated with the campus bookstore when it
refused to buy back a book she bought for a class because she had
opened the plastic wrapping.
Together with friends, Kwok went to Macy’s and used a
plastic pillow bag casing and superglue to reseal the book.
“We learned you have to be really careful with superglue,
but when the bookstore bought back the book she was so
happy,” Sun said.
While playful at times, friends of Kwok also said she knew when
to be serious.
A few weeks ago, Kwok and her friends were talking about death,
and Kwok said that if she were to die and it was God’s will,
she wouldn’t have a problem with it, Liaw said.
Family and friends say they will continue to think of Kwok as a
loving and enthusiastic person who cared more for others than for
herself.
Kwok went home to her doctor after feeling ill the weekend of
April 17, and was sent to Garfield Medical Center where she died
April 20 in the morning.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said that
Kwok’s cause of death is still unknown, and it will take two
to three months before a final determination can be made.
Kwok’s body was released to her father over the weekend, and
funeral and memorial services are being planned.
A memorial service held by Kwok’s parents will be held
at Rose Hill Lawn in Costa Mesa on May 1 at 1 p.m.