MICHELLE COMBS: HER MEMORY LIVES ON

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[Photo courtesy of the Combs family]

Isaac Flater

Marketing Specialist

The next time you’re in the SALT Center, we invite you to pause a moment and visit the new display in our student lounge dedicated to the memory of former student, Michelle Combs. In 2005, Michelle was a sophomore in Retailing and Consumer Sciences when her life was tragically cut short in a motorcycle accident. The new display includes a photo collage celebrating Michelle’s life and a plaque listing the names of every student in the SALT Center who has been honored with the Michelle Combs Award.

The Michelle Combs Endowed Fund was established in 2014 by friends and family who wanted a meaningful way to honor Michelle’s memory and help others realize their potential. Each year, a handful of students who exhibit Michelle’s adventurous, energetic, and goal-oriented characteristics are chosen to receive this prestigious award. The fund also provides financial support for study abroad and leadership development opportunities for students who learn differently.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of her passing, we encourage you to reflect on this description Michelle wrote about herself for the “About Me” section of her social media profile just weeks before the accident:

I'm a student at the University of Arizona, second year here and I'm loving it. My major is Retail and my minor is Psychology. Not sure what I want to do with that but there are so many different things I can do I’m not really in a rush to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm a pretty busy person always wanting to do something new and stay busy but I'm also a very easy-going person enjoying going to school and learning as much interesting necessary and unnecessary stuff as possible. I would have never learned this stuff if I did not go to college so I'm glad I'm going to school, if that makes any sense at all. I'm trying to live each day to the fullest and trying not to live in the past because you can't change what has happened you can only learn from it.

One of Michelle’s favorite quotes was also included on the cover of the program at her celebration of life service. It reads, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

If you would like to learn more about Michelle’s inspiring life, past award winners, or how to contribute to the Michelle Combs Endowed Fund, please visit:

salt.arizona.edu/michelle

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