Natalie Summerfish, the John Muir College student found dead on Feb. 7 at Pacific Hall of an apparent suicide, will be honored by friends and family at a memorial service on Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. at the Eternal Hills Chapel in Oceanside. UCSD students and all those who knew Summerfish have been invited to attend.
Summerfish, a 19-year-old sophomore with junior standing majoring in visual arts, was orignally from Russia and was known to others in the beginning of her college career as Natalya Cherepakhin before changing her name at about the same time that she received U.S. citizenship. Her first year at UCSD was spent in on-campus housing, but she resided off campus during her second year.
According to sophomore Isra Yaghoubi, Summerfish was known to all her friends at UCSD as Natalya Cherapakhin, and had only changed her name at the end of last year.
“”I’ve learned quite a bit from her,”” said Yaghoubi, who shared an apartment with Summerfish during their freshman year. “”And I’m deeply saddened that I can’t get to know her any better.””
Sophomore and friend Gabe Kreb remembered sharing a visual arts class with her.
“”Natalie would create intricate wire sculptures, and did great stuff that blew me away,”” Kreb said. “”She was an artist.””
Kreb and Yaghouni also remembered Summerfish thinking up riddles and posting them on her roommates’ doors, rewarding them with candy bars for correct answers.
The Muir college administration and the campus Psychological and Counseling Services staff have been working in coordination to respond to reactions from students who may have been affected by the loss of Summerfish, deploying staff to Pacific Hall on Feb. 7 and providing ongoing services in order to reach out to anyone who wishes to come in contact with them.
“”Our main response is to be available to individuals, but also, colleges will identify a group of people who want to talk and we will come over,”” said Interim Director of Psychological and Counseling Services Reina Juarez. “”Hopefully, more people will come out for help. We are available for any sort of format and to anyone, regardless of whether or not they knew Summerfish.””
Muir College Dean of Student Affairs Patricia Mahaffey said that she expects students to react on a number of levels, despite whether or not they knew Summerfish or are in the process of grieving, concerned with another one of their own friends, or have lost someone in the past themselves.
“”I think it’s fair to say that all of us here on this campus are affected by this tragedy,”” Mahaffey said. “”We are all deeply saddened by the loss of someone so young and so bright.””
Psychological and Counseling Services encourages anyone to contact them at (858) 534-3755. Counselors are on-call 24 hours a day and are available after office hours through campus police by calling (858) 534-HELP.
For questions or concerns regarding suicide, Psychological and Counseling Services also recommends visiting the Jed Foundation’s Web site at http://www.ulifeline.org or calling the San Diego County Mental Health Crisis Line at (1800) 479-3339.