Photo:
Carmen, left, in an image uploaded to her online obituary photo gallery.
One of the 17 high school students who died during last week's shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., hoped to attend the University of Washington in the fall.
Carmen Marie Schentrup, 16, died only a few days before her 17th birthday. Her obituary reveals that she was excited about graduating high school in June, and hoped to attend either the University of Florida or the University of Washington. She planned to become a medical researcher, and her goal was to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Schentrup was also a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist, one of only 10 students at Stoneman Douglas High School to receive the honor. But Schentrup died without knowing of her achievement; the letter arrived the day after she died.
"We always used to tell her she was going to get into Harvard or something," friend and Stoneman Douglas senior Angelyse Perez told the Miami Herald.
Schentrup's affinity for medicine arose after her own medical challenges. She had a medical procedure at age 12 that left her with metal rods jutting from her leg for several months, and later deep scars in their place.
“She wanted to become a medical scientist and discover a cure for horrible diseases, like ALS,” her parents wrote in a statement. “She was going to change the world.”
In the wake of the tragedy in Parkland, survivors have organized the "March for Our Lives" to advocate for gun reform. A number of school walkouts are also in the works. Read more about these efforts here.
