The short life of Meghan Sennott, who died Sunday morning in a bus accident in Peru, left a lasting impression on her friends, who say she was a person who loved and who was loved by all.
Sennott, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, had finished studying tropical ecology through Boston University’s Ecuador program a week before the accident that left 13 dead and 40 injured.
“It’s a terrible, terrible tragedy,” BU spokesman Colin Riley said. “It’s very sad … Coming on commencement day, while thousands of miles away, we are celebrating the graduation of so many students completing their studies, here she was just completing a semester abroad.”
Sennott, 20, grew up in Minnesota, where in eighth grade she met one of her would-be closest friends, Mary Callahan. Although Callahan is studying elementary education at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, she said she has been close with Sennott since the day they met.
“She was a big free spirit,” the junior said. “She was just the most laid-back person I ever knew. She was so smart, just brilliant. She loved to travel. I’m really glad that that’s how she passed away — traveling the world, so she got to do something she loved.”
About one year ago, Sennott met her boyfriend in England. After they “fell in love,” according to Callahan, he moved to Boston with her and traveled to South America with her as well. He was also on the bus, and is now in critical condition.
“I’m glad she was with her boyfriend because they were in love,” Callahan said.
Another of Sennott’s close friends, Stephanie Bartholow, who also met her in middle school, said Sennott was unique in how she was easygoing and looked upon as a role model.
“She was very much a people person,” the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities junior said. “She loved people and people loved her. She had the ability to make anyone laugh and feel comfortable. She didn’t really care what other people thought, which made her a really strong individual and just someone who people could look up to.”
Bartholow recalled how one day after school while the two were waiting for music lessons, Sennott taught her how to play “Jingle Bells” on her violin, even thought Bartholow played the clarinet.
“She just kind of taught me how to play violin,” she said. “She was such a great teacher.”
One photograph that Bartholow said embodies Sennott’s “aura” shows her with a monkey crawling on her back.
“She is able to experience things,” she said. “I just love that picture of her. That is by far the best picture to represent Meghan.”
Although Sennott was studying tropical ecology in Ecuador, Callahan said her field of interest has changed frequently.
“The thing about Meghan is that she wanted to major in everything,” she said. “First, she was a biology major, then she was an archaeology major, then she was marine biology. She just couldn’t make up her mind because she loved science and she loved history. She was also a history major for awhile, and she was also good at philosophy.
“She was just good at everything,” Callahan continued, “and I think that the reason she went on this trip was to really see how into it she was. And she just loved it, so I think she would have stuck with this one — ecology.”
Callahan said in addition to simply loving nature, Sennott loved Boston — “her favorite place.” But on top of everything, Callahan said her family was the most important thing to her. Sennott’s parents are currently in Peru retrieving her body and could not be reached.
Bartholow, who is studying art and communications, noted that although she had never become “incredibly close” with Sennott’s family, she noticed that she took after her father’s artistic ability.
“I had spent time with them, and I got to see some of her dad’s work for the [Minneapolis] Star Tribune,” she said. “He had amazing work, and that’s where Meghan kind of picked up her artistic talent … Art and music was just something you could tell made her really happy. It was just her life.”
Before she left for college, when classes were over, Sennott was able to “have fun and enjoy life,” Bartholow said.
“That’s kind of how she lived her life, living it to the fullest,” she said. “That’s exactly why she was in Peru. She just had a gift-with everything, she put her mind to it. She was able to do it. She was one of those people who could pick something up and get it.”
Bartholow said she admired how Sennott was always in the spotlight — “not in a bad way, but in kind of a natural way.”
“She wanted to live every minute to its fullest,” she said, “and she kind of did that by example, even as she passed away.”