Friends and classmates are mourning the loss of UF graduate student Shannon Kane, 22, who died in a car accident on Monday.
Kane began pursuing a degree at UF in wind conduction in the fall. She earned her undergraduate degree in music education from Syracuse University.
Kane's boyfriend, Michael Ubbens, was driving when the eight-car pile-up occurred early Monday morning on I-75.
Ubbens, who attends Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, was visiting Kane for Valentine's Day weekend.
"They knew each other since kindergarten," said Erin Cushing, a friend of Kane. "It was a soulmate situation. She loved him so much and was so proud of him."
One thing everyone remembers is her smile.
"When I had a bad day, I would see her smile and bam, it fixed it," said Michael Miller, a close friend of Kane.
Marc Payton, who met Kane last semester, compared her smile's warmth and innocence to that of a child meeting Mickey Mouse during his or her first trip to Disney World.
A teaching assistant for UF's bands, Kane also lead the Women's Volleyball pep band.
"She was a great musician," Miller said, adding Kane played the flute. Miller and Kane met freshman year at Syracuse University.
"She had a beautiful sound," said Cushing, who met Kane the first day of band camp during the summer.
Payton, who has been involved with the pep band for more than four years, often helped Kane find last minute substitutes before performances.
"She's one of those leaders who remembered how to be a good follower," Payton said, adding Kane always took her band members' opinions into consideration. She would often ask them for song preferences before selecting the game's playlist, he said.
"She was very professional," Miller said. "She was able to walk the line between teacher and peer. She was always someone everyone looked up to because she was real."
Payton said Kane's absence was noticed immediately.
"She will be missed deeply in the school of music," he said.
Kane was a talented flutist, but she was also a hardworking student.
"She raised the bar for all of the master's students," Cushing said.
Miller agreed.
"She was organized as hell," he said, explaining how Kane pushed him to be a better student. "We leaned on each other. She kept me organized, and I kept her calm." Friends called her study habits meticulous.
"Shannon was on the verge of having OCD," said friend and fellow teaching assistant Chelsea Negray with a laugh. "Everything had to be perfect; it would get on our nerves."
Along with her love of music and school, Kane had a love of sweets.
"She always made me laugh because she would always eat her cookie first, before the rest of her lunch," Negray said.
"Given the choice between eating something healthy or a cookie, she would eat the cookie," Cushing said.
However, Kane's selflessness, kindness and optimistic nature will be missed most.
"I was grateful I got to know her," Negray said in a voice choked with emotion. "It's really true what they say: it's better to have loved and have lost than to never have loved at all. My life would have been so mundane without her."
Miller said a memorial will be held in Kane's honor.
