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News

A friend to many

by DEANNA MENDOZA
The Daily Cougar

Shortly before Spring Break, hotel and restaurant management freshman Bryan Truong sat on a bench outside Taub Hall talking with a close friend.

"We' re more than just bros," Truong said to architecture freshman Brian Sugano. "We' re best friends." 

Truong, 19, wanted his friends to know he would always be there for them. 

That dedication to his friends is why he made a pact with Sugano that they would be close throughout college, never to let anything come between them. And that' s why he made Spring Break plans to drive with his friend Priscilla Espinoza, 18, to San Antonio' s Six Flags Fiesta. 

The trip had a dual purpose: to celebrate Espinoza' s birthday and to mark her recent success in kicking drug addiction.

For Truong, Espinoza and their friend Mario Trejo, 20, however, the trip had a tragic ending. 

The three were killed on the way back from San Antonio when their 1998 Ford Mustang broke through a concrete guardrail on Interstate 10 and fell onto a road 30 feet below. 

Only 19-year-old driver Nicole Cummings survived. 

"Bryan was an amazing person," accounting freshman Brittany Green said. "He did so much for everyone that was in his life." 

His friends said he was leader and humanitarian who volunteered and helped with service projects whenever possible. 

Truong, who worked at the Hobby Airport Marriott, was also hard-working. 

"He was one of our best," hotel and restaurant management senior and coworker Jennifer Borrego said. "He was part of what we call ‘the A team.' "

Truong, known for his extroverted personality, had a reputation for easily making friends.

"He was the outgoing social character," Sugano said, "and I was the introverted wise guy."

Truong' s lighter side was often showcased, Sugano said, by quoting Old School, one of his favorite movies, impersonating Talladega Nights protagonist Ricky Bobby or simply by holding a conversation with someone he had just met.

Truong' s knack for making friends left a permanent mark on those who knew him -- 284 high school and college students have formed a Facebook group to share memories and photos of the freshman.

Ultimately, Truong' s philosophy was best encapsulated in a memento left with Sugano.

"One night, he looked in my desk drawer and saw that several people had written on the drawer bottom, so he added a quote of his own," Sugano said. 

The writing still remains, a final testament to Truong' s nature.

"Learn from yesterday," Truong wrote. "Live for today, hope for tomorrow." 

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