Austin was one of the funniest and most politically aware people you could meet. I knew him from Intro Chemistry Lab and was lucky enough to have him as my partner during all those frustrating, patience-tiring three hour labs. While waiting for our experiments to go awry we'd often recall Family Guy scenes or describe the quirky tendencies of our respective roommates. I remember some of his exploits during Rush Week and how he helped keep DirectConnect alive at JHU. I didn't get to see him much after our freshman year, but whenever we did meet in passing and chatted, he always seemed to remember what was happening in my life and what we talked about the last time we saw each other. On AIM, a lot of his away messages and messages in his profile were links to The Onion articles or something political. At a time when Americans are often criticized for their political apathy or ignorance, he did his fair share of research and tried to make that knowledge common knowledge.
Being a senior now, and having been a senior in high school, I know that feeling of wondering about how all those old friends and acquaintances you lost contact with ended up. I always felt that Austin would be one of those people I'd think about from time to time after graduating. I know he always will be. I only got to know Austin in a limited capacity, but I have only good words to say about him. I’m sure those who knew him better were themselves bettered for having done so. I wish the best for all those who care for Austin and that they'll get through this difficult time. My guess is he's wishing the same thing too.
-Robert Velasco
Addendum:
I'd like to share one more story of Austin. During our freshman year we played ping pong after lab one time and some girl kept on calling his cell phone which he didn't bother to answer. He was telling me about how he was getting annoyed by her constantly trying to talk to him. About a year later when I saw him, we were catching up and I asked him, "whatever happened to that girl that kept calling you?" He looked at me a little puzzled, trying to remember. He then realized and said "oh, she's my girlfriend now."
$$$ for College