A memory board in the Communication Department reads “Radio is a family. We love, we live and we never forget” as students and teachers remember sophomore Hannah Bridgmon and the legacy she left behind.

Bridgmon was a Radio-Television and Interactive Media major planning to be a radio host, said Associate Communications Professor Patricia Sanders.

She died May 5 in a car accident in Franklin County. Sanders said Bridgmon was heading to campus to work on a group project for class when the accident occurred.

The students knew something was wrong when Bridgmon was late, Sanders said. The meeting time was Bridgmon’s idea.

Sanders said after she heard of Bridgmon’s death, she spent the day mourning and helping students grieve.

“Hannah was taken way too soon, and we can’t question why,” Sanders said. “We just have to cherish her memories and let her family know that we will always love her and she will always be a part of us.”

Sophomore Mckenzie Long said Bridgmon proclaimed her as her “soulmate best friend.” Long said Bridgmon had a passion for photography and dreamed of traveling the world taking pictures for National Geographic.

Long said she joked with her about the two of them traveling the world living off money from pictures Bridgmon took.

Sophomore Gabrielle Ward said Bridgmon had a beautiful smile and “the cutest giggle you have ever heard.”

“I’ll never forget the sound of (her) voice,” Ward said in an Instagram post. “(She) will always hold a place in my heart.”

Ward said Bridgmon let her stay at her apartment while she was finding a new one. Bridgmon then helped Ward move into her new apartment.

“It was all of her friends before herself,” Ward said. “If she cared about you, you were first.”

Ward said she has a canvas Bridgmon made her with the quote “I’m glad you decided to ditch the clouds and forever warm my soul with your light.”

This quote described Bridgmon, Sanders said. Bridgmon was always “a little bright light with a little fiestiness.”

Long said Bridgmon loved astrology. In December, the friends got semi-matching tattoos of their zodiac symbols. Long got an additional tattoo with Bridgmon’s handwriting following her death.

“She was one of a kind,” Ward said. “She was weird in her own way, but that was what made her who she was.”

Ward said Bridgmon loved antique shopping, crafting and refurbishing.

“She was one of those people to pick stuff up off the side of the road,” Ward said. “She would be like ‘why are they throwing this out? I can totally use this.’”

Ward and Long said they did not realize how much reminded them of Bridgmon.

“Everything you look at can remind you of her,” Ward said. “Literally everything can connect you.”

Long said most of her belongings are something Bridgmon picked out. This includes everything from a shirt Bridgmon bought to their matching sunglasses.

“It’s comforting and it’s hard at the same time,” Long said.

Although Bridgmon was taken from this life, Long said her light was never extinguished because of the legacy she left

“Everybody loved her and she loved everybody,” Long said. “People should just be kind to one another like her.”

Sanders said she thinks Bridgmon’s legacy should encourage students to take advantage of the days they have.

“Hannah has inspired us to work really hard and to reach goals that she won’t be able to reach,” Sanders said.

Long said she would like to see an area of campus devoted to Bridgmon’s memory with pictures to commemorate her love for photography.