Compassion, energy and a deep love of life, people, animals, the arts and Charleston.
The people who knew and loved Liza Johnson will remember all of these things along with each personal connection she had with everyone in her life.
Johnson, a junior Sociology major, died Oct. 12 in an accident on Highway 26, according to an e-mail from Dean of Students Jeri Cabot.
Johnson was on her way back to Charleston after spending fall break at home in Newberry, S.C. and camping with friends in Asheville, N.C., her mother, Rhonda Johnson, said. Rhonda Johnson is glad that her daughter enjoyed her time with family at home and friends before the accident.
 “This is not what we would have wanted or what we would have chosen, but it was a perfect weekend,” Rhonda Johnson said.
John Pennell, Johnson’s friend and former roommate, also values the memories of Johnson’s last weekend camping in Asheville, N.C.
“The last weekend we had together, before the accident, was so perfect, and I have a million memories just from that trip that I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life,” Pennell said.
Johnson graduated a year early from Mid-Carolina High School in Newberry, and was determined to attend C of C.
“It meant so much to her to go to the College of Charleston,” her father, Jamie Johnson, said. “She felt that C of C was a better education than what she could get closer to home. She truly believed that a degree from the College of Charleston is something special.”
Rhonda says Johnson thrived on Charleston city life.
“She loved the hustle and bustle and always having something new to do and somewhere new to go eat,” Rhonda said.
Pennell sees Johnson’s infatuation with the city as part of her charm.
“You just couldn’t help but love this little country farm girl that came to the city with big eyes and big dreams,” Pennell said.
Rhonda describes her daughter as a bubbly extrovert who was always busy, even late into the night. Johnson loved the arts, ranging from music to ballet to drawing and painting, and her creativity came out in different aspects of her life.
“My daughter loved color. She would put colors together in dress that other people would never think of, but it would come out beautifully,” Rhonda said.
Friend Grant Cutler says he will remember Johnson’s positive smile and laugh and how well they demonstrated her character.
“She had a talent for turning something that seemed bleak into something to laugh about,” Cutler said. “It never took long for her to make someone smile.”
Ryan Hawkins echoed the description of Johnson’s contagious smile.
Hawkins dated Johnson for a year and a half, a time that he says was one of the happiest of his life.
“I could never get mad at Liza,” Hawkins said. “She would always make some sort of ridiculous comment or crazy face that completely diffused the situation.”
Johnson loved animals and volunteered regularly at the Newberry County Animal Shelter when she was home.
Johnson was into everything, but she wanted to focus her career on helping people, Rhonda said.
“She originally wanted to go to school to be a nurse in the Peace Corps, but she took her first nursing class and decided it wasn’t for her,” Rhonda said. “She decided on sociology because she loved people.”
Johnson took Brenda Sanders’ gerontology class in the fall ’08 semester to study aging and the problems of the aged. A service learning project for the class led Johnson to volunteer at respite care and adult day care centers in Charleston.
Rhonda says Johnson enjoyed working with senior citizens and connected with the people. She used the knowledge from the course to help her family deal with two grandparents with dementia.
Sanders remembers Liza as a funny, happy, good student with lots of friends in class.
“I went into my gerontology class Wednesday night, and it was a painful reminder of how fragile life is,” Sanders said. “This was her in this class last year.”
Johnson took the spring 2009 semester off from C of C. She went home to Newberry and worked on some personal difficulties she faced at college.
“She was on a roller coaster, but she was definitely back up to the top,” Rhonda said. “I’m just really glad she had taken some time off, pulled her stuff together, and was going in a new direction, with some old friends and some new friends.”
Johnson always pushed herself in school and worked to excel in life, Rhonda Johnson said.
Rhonda Johnson said  that Liza loved to take the time out of her busy life to get to know special people.
“I will remember her love of life, period,” Rhonda Johnson said. “She was so full of energy, life and compassion.”
Pennell says he will miss laughing with his best friend, who he called a true free bird.
“Through and through, Liza was so lucky because so many people loved her so deeply, and those people were in turn lucky to have known such an awesome, open-minded, loving person,” Pennell said.