What Evie Means to Me

Kind Words from Evie’s Friends

"Evie is one of the most genuine, friendly, and compassionate people ever met in my life. She was my best friend, my biggest supporter, and overall, my favorite person. She never failed to offer help when needed. Despite the fact that she wasn’t getting lunch, I remember her standing in the long lunch line at school with me every day because I didn’t want to be alone. And trust me, that line is not fun to stand in, even for 30 seconds. When I was feeling stressed out, Evie would always offer to hang out. We’d go to our favorite place, Toro sushi in Downtown Burbank, and talk it out. Then, we’d go to her house and play with her lovely cat, Rocky, and play games on her WiiU.

She always knew how to light up the room; I remember feeling upset at homecoming but once I met back up with Evie, my mood drastically lifted. She danced around to songs played by the DJ and made me feel so comforted. I don’t think there was ever a hang-out plan with Evie where she didn’t randomly start dancing at some point. I loved seeing her display her many talents through her drama and dance performances. If we weren’t hanging out after school, she would be working hard at drama or dance practice for hours.

“I miss her ability to always make me laugh and feel like I had nothing to worry about. Her incredible level of intelligence and affectionate nature radiated through to others like a star. She’s such a star. I REALLY emphasize that. She made me feel so loved and understood. I could write a 1000-page book on how much Evie has influenced my life and how our memories together bring so much happiness into my heart. I love her so much and I can’t believe I was lucky enough to be that close with Evie.” - Scarlett Shamirian

“When I think of Evie, I think of laughter! Evie is joy and kindness and hilarity. Her sense of humor is beautiful and she helped me and continues to help me find the Light in every situation. I think of her during every beautiful sunset (I somehow always know when I need to go outside and witness a good Evie sunset!) and every silly moment. Evie continues to help me appreciate the silly and I appreciate her so much because of it.” - Abby Griffith

“Evie is one of a kind. You could compare her to your favorite character in a book, but she was better than that. You see, a book character can be described in a few sentences, maybe even a paragraph or two. You can understand them and begin to think about what they might do next; to describe Evie you would need pages, chapters, whole books even. But I guess I’ll have to settle for only a few sentences.

When people die, everyone always makes them sound way better in death than they actually were in life. Though, with Evie, that is far from the truth. Every positive thing you will ever hear about her is true. She was kind and selfless and an amazing student and brilliant and beautiful and loving and patient and so much more. She was someone that you could go to with any issue in the world and she wasn’t going to judge—she was only going to try to help you in any way she could. She was always kind to everyone, and I mean everyone. No matter who you were, Evie would be your friend. She would always find something you had in common and everything would just flow smoothly. Conversations never felt forced or awkward. She could talk to you about anything and everything, and if she didn’t know anything about something you were interested in she was always willing to listen and learn more.

She was always someone who would stick by your side no matter what. She was always a friend to me even when I definitely didn’t deserve anyone like her in my life. She was always there to talk but also to just provide a safe space. A place you could go to to just forget about any of your problems and just hang out and watch a movie or play with the cats or bake (so much baking).

Evie was truly, still is, a truly exceptional person. And because she always laughed at my stupid quotes, the best way I can describe her is in a quote from Mulan: “you don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty.” Of course this quote was said in a completely different context, but I still think it fits because you truly don’t meet a person like Evie more than once in a lifetime.” - Callie Gingrich

“I was lucky to meet Evie freshman year of High School. She was the first person in High School that I met, and her caring nature and friendly smile was too much to resist- I HAD to be her friend. We bonded over theatre, being in the drama program, and school in general. She encouraged me to audition and get involved in the drama program even when I was too afraid to audition. Her inspiring comments always made you feel like you could do anything that you set your mind to. If anyone believed in you, it was her. She means so much to me because she inspired me to dream. To ask the “what if questions.” Evie was definitely a dreamer and encouraged people to enjoy life. Ultimately, Evie is magic. When she would talk with you, you couldn’t help but smile. Even now, thinking about her makes me smile. I miss her so much but I know that she can be found in all the goodness that the world has to offer.” - Jen Nash

“I sincerely doubt I will ever meet anyone as spirited and unyielding as Evie. Her strength will always have an impact on the people she knew; showing us that despairing is absolutely never the answer.”
- Brandon Paul Wilson

“To me, Evie meant loyalty and kindness. Being in a group with Evie meant that no one was ever left out, because she always tried her best to include everyone and brighten our day. When I think of some of my happiest memories, Evie’s always there. I’ve never known someone so strong and so determined to be a positive influence on everyone around them.” - Ania Simonian

“Evie meant so much to me in such a short period of time. We had just met in freshman year and bonded over our taste in music and our awful shared interests in middle school. (Dan and Phil, Twenty One Pilots, and more).  She was always there to make me laugh and we would joke back and forth all the time. Evie always meant someone loving and unbiased, someone who I knew I could always turn to when I was feeling left out or alone. Her pool party at the end of the year was such a weird experience for me, everyone else was trying to push me out of my comfort zone. I sat with her and Scarlett almost the whole time I was there, and she understood that sometimes people like to stay within their comfort zone- and that’s okay. I remember going to see Little Shop of Horrors and recording her on stage, watching the choreography and thinking about how talented she was. She meant being confident and always smiling, but still being able to laugh at yourself all the time. She always knew how and when to make a joke to cheer someone up, which she did with me frequently. She never let anyone worry about her, and all the love she received she returned.” - Emily Henschel

“Evie is incredibly funny and smart. She’s great company and there was never a moment when I was bored or not smiling around her. I miss her a lot.” - Miles Yasakhanian

“Evie was the sunshine of the room.  every time she was around people she made everyone happy. my time with her was short, but it felt like I’ve known her for a long time.  she’s in my heart every day. Her love will stay with us forever.” - Leilauni Acevedo

“When I first saw Evie in middle school wearing a Dan and Phil shirt I knew she was someone I wanted to be friends with. The next day I wore my Dan and Phil shirt to school hoping she would notice as we passed each other in the hall after Mr. Rice’s class. Lucky for me she did notice that day. We quickly introduced ourselves to each other.  And later bonded over our love of YouTube, Bates Motel, and crush on singer Dodie. I’m so incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to know such an amazing person. To me Evie was the light shining in the dark room that was high school. Some of the few times I felt true happiness in school was when I was with Evie. She would always crack jokes and initiate the “feast” at lunch. She always made sure none of us felt left out and I’m incredibly thankful for that. Evie always made me feel I was worthy of not being bullied and stuck up for me constantly. I wouldn’t be where I am today without a friend like her to teach me the true importance of being kind and looking out for others. Things certainly are different without her but I’ll never forget the things she taught me or the encouragement she gave. I will always love and miss Evie with all my heart.” - Chandler Chappell

“Evie is the most kind, giving, and thoughtful person I’ve ever met. I will never forget when I was having a hard day and Evie cheered me up at lunch; making hilarious jokes about her new “Harry Potter” glasses. It’s no surprise to me that she was such an amazing person, as I’ve never met a more loving and caring family than the Swierczynskis. Even today, Evie continues to make my days better whenever I think about all the great times I, and all her friends, had with her. I’m forever thankful for knowing such an beautiful person.” - Delaney Nance

“I got to know Evie my freshman year through my health and dance class. Since I was coming from out of town Evie was one of my first friends I made in high school. Evie was always so sweet to me and would always make the people around her laugh. She always brought good vibes and I was very glad I got to know her when I did.” - Crystal “Nami” Wong

“I met Evie in freshman year, but I saw her on the stage during our eighth grade promotion. She seemed like such a kind soul and I knew that I wanted to become her friend, so you can only imagine how I felt when it came true. Evie was always there for her friends and knew exactly what to say when you were feeling down. She always made me laugh and made me feel like I was important. We’d always have such a good time in our English and biology classes that it made time go by so fast. My life was changed for the better and not a day goes by where I don’t think about her.”
- Scott Perez-Consoli