Marinna Khon graduated May 15, 2010 from the Syracuse University School of Information Science with a B.S. in Information Management and Technology and a minor in Global Enterprise Technology. She was involved in a tragic accident on May 25, 2010 near her home in Lynn, Massachusetts, in which she was pulled out to sea by a rip current.
Marinna was a student who unquestionably would have accomplished great things in both her career and her life. She will be sorely missed.
Marinna was a “dream student”
Faculty members who taught Marinna describe her as the “dream student” who was very driven and extremely motivated to succeed. She enrolled in some of the most technically challenging courses at the iSchool and excelled. She made the dean’s list several times since transferring into the iSchool the spring semester of her sophomore year. She was an active member in the Alpha Phi Omega service organization, and was a positive force to those who knew her.
In Your Words:
I had the pleasure of having Marinna in several classes. She took my IST452 Advanced Networking in the fall of 2009 and this semester she took IST 400 Virtualization. She also participated in my CCNA certification self study sessions.
IST 452 is one of the toughest undergraduate courses in our school and its enrollment is predominantly male. Marinna stood out not only because she was female but also because she was one of the smartest students in the class. She seemed to enjoy technology and was not intimidated by it.
I saw great potential in her and felt very strongly that she was going to do really well. I was most proud of her for voluntarily attending the CCNA self study sessions.
I am truly saddened by this news. My thoughts and prayers are with her family.
As a student she was on the quiet side but showed surprising insight and knowledge whenever she did speak up, contributing to the discussion in a manner which made it a pleasure to have her in class.
She was very self-reliant, generally responding with a cheery “I’m good” and her trademark smile whenever I asked if she had any issues with the assignment.
I’m sure she would have excelled at whatever path she may have chosen upon graduation. I was really saddened to learn of her accident.
Marinna was the quintessential “dream student”, very driven, and extremely motivated to do well.
Marinna was a student that unquestionably would have accomplished great things in both her career and her life in years to come. Both the iSchool and Syracuse University families truly lost a shining star in Marinna.
I just met Marinna a couple weeks ago while doing a photoshoot for a friend. My friend didn’t have a ride, I didn’t have a ride either. Marinna picked us both up and helped us for nearly 3 hours. That was the only 3 hours I got to spend with her and I could tell already that she was an incredible person, caring, fun.
She played “photoshoot” music from her iphone to help us. I only wish I got to know her better, for 3 hours she branded her character into my memory.
If that 3 hours already made an impression on me, I can only imagine how a month or a year or a lifetime would have shown how beautiful of a person Marinna is.
Marinna, thanks for being a part of our lives, because I knew you I have been changed for good.
We miss you Marinna, you’ll be forever in our hearts.
Marinna was a very determined and focused young lady. She worked and studied hard in the iSchool and earned excellent grades. I enjoyed our visits as she was always a pleasure to meet with. We are sadden by her passing; she will be missed.
I am connected to Marinna by that river. We were on the other side when we heard their cries. Now she is in my heart.
I wrote this for her. http://bit.ly/bg2iJ0
Marinna was in my IST233 and 452 classes. She was very passionate about technology and driven to be successful upon graduation. This is a sad loss for those that knew her, and my prayers go out to her friends and family.
Marinna enrolled in my Global Enterprise Technology courses that were newly developed at the time, including IST445 Project Management, and IST302 Financial Systems Architecture. She was a great student in both and a pleasure to have in class.
I am saddened by this loss, and my thoughts go out to her parents and family, who will always sense the missing piece in their quilt of life.
While the loss of your daughter is unthinkably painful, know that she left her mark on those of us who knew her, and we are all better people because our paths crossed with hers.
I had the pleasure of working with Marinna the last couple years at Slocum Cafe at SU. Most people don’t enjoy going to work, but I can honestly say every week I looked forward to it, in large part because of Marinna.
She was one of the most sweetest, genuine people I’ve ever met and to say what happened was a tragedy would be an understatement.
I’ve known Marinna since Middle School. Finding out about that incident out at sea was not easy for me. Didn’t know how to take it at first, but after awhile I realized that you wouldn’t want me be to down and weak like that.
Marinna was always the strong girl [physically and mentally oi]. She was like my sister. Always inspired me by her dedication and motivation to learn and keeping the bad girls away from me [lol].
As your Big Bro; you will never be missed because you never left me. Whenever I get lazy I will always remember that Marinna punch of motivation and you saying “Don’t give up, I know you can do it!”
I’m sorry I can’t be there with our family and friends. Being in Japan I will send my prayer from here. Thank you for bumping into me 9 years ago, thank you for listening to me late at night about my girl problems, and thank you for being a great friend.
Memories we had together with our family and friends will never fade away. One last time lets have some sour apples and some mangos together.
I met Marinna in Systems Analysis class and went on to take Web Design class with her. As fellow South East Asians, we shared a lot in common and I was drawn to her determined and passionate nature.
She had a spirit about her that I will always love and admire. We saw each other frequently at parties and across campus and I was always happy to see her. The last time I saw her was at the Drake concert and it really breaks my heart to think that that was the last time I would see her.
It kills me that I’m still alive and well and yet, she, such a genuine and giving person, isn’t. I’m still in shock. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly come to terms with this.
I’m still shocked/in denial. It’s hard to believe that something as catastrophic as this could happen to someone who worked SO HARD to be able to graduate on time. Sometimes she wouldn’t sleep for days because she wanted to excel in everything from schoolwork to her multiple work shifts to her dance choreographies.
I was already very sad because she was graduating and she wouldn’t be around for my senior year, so when I heard what happened I was in complete disbelief.
She was my best friend in the iSchool. She was always so dedicated to everything she did. She was the nicest, most reliable person I knew and I’m still hoping that they find her.
I have known Marinna since freshman year and she has always remained a close friend of mine. As she excelled in her major and her classes became more challenging, she always gave 110%.
There would be times where she would choose to get ahead in her studies than sleep! When she wasn’t studying, she was working part-time or with her friends dancing. Marinna had an energy and presence that lit up the room and we will always remember her for that, as well as her kind heart.
We are still praying for her safe return home to the friends and family that miss her so…