Jillian Hribsek, freshman theater major, died Thursday of unknown causes.

“She died suddenly but peacefully,” said Kristina Hoge, freshman nursing major. “She went fast.”

Her friends were together last night to support one another. They looked at photographs of Hribsek and told stories.

Hoge and Sarah Yeager, who went to Springfield High School with Hribsek, told one of their favorite memories of their best friend.

“Me and Jill were in the car,” Hoge said. “I took off and (Sarah’s) pants got caught in the tire.”

All the women laughed.

“Jill got out and laughed at her,” said Ashley Huff, junior accounting major.

Hribsek’s cause of death is still under investigation, and toxicology results will be announced in several weeks.

Several of Hribsek’s friends described her as “crazy” and energetic. She was an actor and was in choir, always singing and dancing around on car rides.

Even though she had a lot going on, she always had a smile on her face, Hoge said.

The women agreed Hribsek just wanted to see other people happy.

“She was always everybody’s cheerleader,” said Mariah Arnett, freshman communications major. Hribsek always told others to do what makes them happy.

And she liked to make others laugh.

“She always dressed up in thrift stores,” Huff said, laughing.

Photographs of Hribsek show her dressed up in florescent pink pants and a white glove, a parody of Michael Jackson. Another photo showed Hribsek wearing a prairie dress.

“She always wore crazy hats,” Arnett said.

Several photographs show Hribsek dressed in eccentric, funky outfits and bright colors.

Huff said she knows their friend will be with them. She took it as a sign that the radio in Huff’s car began working for the first time in months.

“She was awesome; that’s all I can say,” Yeager said.

The women plan to wear black Dickies and band T-shirts to Hribsek’s funeral.

Contact student politics reporter Jessica Rothschuh at [email protected].