When Kelly Gordon was pursuing a triple major at Boston College Business School, she counseled her roommates to adopt a ‘no nap’ policy. Naps were a waste of time, Kelly said, when there was always something better they could be doing.

She took her own advice, working part-time jobs and starting small businesses to pay her way through college. She also helped organize charity events for cancer research and, time permitting, baked elaborate cakes for her friends and family.

Her mother Lorraine said Kelly, the oldest of five children, was a natural leader. “Her love of life was contagious,” Lorraine said, “to the point where her ambition and compassion inspired everyone around her.”

On the day Kelly died, she had just interviewed for a position at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan. She was set to graduate from college four weeks later.