When people met Emma Wozny, they found her kind spirit infectious.

“She always wanted people to be happy,” said Wozny’s friend Sarah Richheimer, “She always tried to cheer people up with her spontaneous personality.”

Wozny, a junior psychology and neuroscience major, died Monday at her family’s home in Verona, N.J. She was a staff writer at The Daily Orange and spent a semester abroad in Spain with the SU Madrid program in fall 2012.  Those who knew Wozny said they will remember her for her passion for traveling and her outgoing personality.

After coming back from Spain, Wozny was brimming with stories about her time abroad, said Richheimer, who is also a contributing writer for The Daily Orange. Wozny’s passion for experiencing different cultures seemed to underline her excitement, Richheimer said.

“We heard all of her stories from when she was abroad and daily she had story after story,” said Richheimer, a junior public relations major. “She used to say how much she wished she was still there.”

Richheimer said she attributed Wozny’s excitement about her travels to her spontaneous, outgoing character and “passion for life,” which Wozny often used to cheer up others. Just before classes started, Richheimer said, she and Wozny went to the Great New York State Fair, where Wozny rode an electric bull. Richheimer said she took funny pictures and video footage of Wozny riding the bull, but because she loved to make people smile, “she wasn’t even angry” about the embarrassing recordings.

When Richheimer heard the news about Wozny’s death, she said she felt utter shock and disbelief, thinking back to when she first met Wozny during their freshman year, when they lived on the fourth floor of Day Hall.

Liza Posner also met Wozny during their freshman year; the two girls were roommates. Posner, a junior advertising major, said Wozny was quiet at first, but the two bonded over their quirky, fun personalities.

Posner said her fondest memory of Wozny was when they would make fun of a stuffed animal, called “Sharky,” that Wozny kept on her bed. She said Wozny would give Sharky human qualities, writing Post-it notes around the room illustrating what its interests were.

“I don’t think it’s really fully hit me yet that she’s gone,” Posner said.

Daniel McDowell had a similar reaction when he heard the news that the bright student he had just met had died.  He met Wozny last week when she attended her first international relations class taught by McDowell.

“It’s just a tragedy. There’s no words to express how you feel,” said McDowell, an assistant professor of political science. “Anytime someone young and bright passes away, it’s a tragedy.”

Though Wozny only attended one class, McDowell said she had already made a lasting impression.

As a part of the course, it was suggested that students make a Twitter account, McDowell said. Wozny was one of the first students to make a Twitter, registering her Twitter handle as @yay_psc_124, named after the class, he said.

“I thought it was so cool that she had signed up for Twitter specifically for the class and had a sense of humor about it,” McDowell said. “In class, I brought up that Emma had joined and I saw that she instantly had a smile on her face.”

The day after learning of her death, McDowell said he shared Wozny’s obituary in class and had a moment of silence in her honor. He said he chose to dismiss class early because he didn’t feel it was right to discuss such difficult news and then continue on as if it was a normal day.

“Unfortunately, I won’t have the chance to get to know her now,” McDowell said. “But from the brief period that she was in my class, I knew she was a special person.”

Published on September 5, 2013 at 1:26 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu