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Nohemi Gonzalez, 20, of El Monte, California, is the only U.S. citizen so far identified as among at least 129 people killed in the terror attacks in Paris, Friday.(Photo: Strate - Ecole de Design via Facebook)
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- At the university<span style="color: Red;">*</span>where she was considered among the hardest working<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and most<span style="color: Red;">*</span>promising students, an overflow crowd of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>mourners gathered Sunday to remember Nohemi Gonzalez, the American killed in the Paris terrorist attacks.
Gonzalez, 23,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was shot at a bistro Friday night by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gunmen who opened fire from a passing vehicle.
At the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>gathering Sunday at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>California State University, Long Beach,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Stephen Kosai, who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>had Gonzalez as a student teacher, said in an interview that her<span style="color: Red;">*</span>enthusiasm stood out. "She was very lively, always really high spirited" and "loved industrial design," he said.
She was especially thrilled at the prospect of going overseas to Paris as a foreign student.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"She was very excited when she got...the news," Kosai said.
USA TODAY
California student dies in Paris attacks
Gonzalez had gone to Paris like so many students before her, ready to explore the city and attend classes with a sense of wonder and hopes that the experience would help her find her inner voice, said Martin Herman, chairman of the university's design department where she was a major, told the crowd.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>He says he had seen himself that "there<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was something deeply reflective in her."
Within the department, she was often in charge<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>workshop and "ran a very tight ship," he says. Even though she had a fun-loving personality, she was a student assistant who insisted on high standards, cracking the <span style="color: Red;">*</span>whip if students didn't leave the shop clean. She was also tireless, sometimes working late into early morning to finish projects.
"She was always the last one to leave the shop," said a classmate, Alex Schumacher. She was the hardest-working member of their group.
Her boyfriend, Tim Mraz,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>who met her in shop class, said, "she ran that place, man. She owned it." Now, he said, she will "always be here. She will be still roaming those halls."
Students placed flowers at a fountain on the campus of California State University in Long Beach Sunday to remember Nohemi Gonzalez, 23. She was the only American killed in the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY)
The university's president, Jane Close Conoley, called Gonzalez' violent death "an assault on our hearts."
Jennifer Hayat, who works in the campus' study abroad program office, says there is shock that one of university’s students could have been killed in the attack. "She is one of the students we supported to send abroad." Now, "I want to be here to make sure our family knows our college really supports her," Hayat said.
Hundreds attended the memorial, swelling to a standing-room-only crowd. Many brought flowers.
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