With a passion for oceanography and desire to help others, Ashley Rose Gould taught those around her about the importance of appreciating every day.
She was bigger than life in everything she did, said Marcy Gould, Ashleys mother. She didnt let cancer get in her way, she really didnt. She just lived life to the fullest.
Ashley fought a long battle with cancer since she was diagnosed after her first semester at A&M in 2008, but continued to do the things she loved.
While attending A&M as a geological oceanography doctoral student, Ashley shared her love for the ocean and geophysics as a graduate assistant teacher and a lab instructor for oceanography.
One of her biggest things that she loved about being a graduate student was teaching, said Ashleys friend Ruth Mullins, an oceanography graduate student. Its probably one of the biggest impacts she had as well.
Despite dealing with rounds of chemotherapy and operations, Ashley didnt let the cancer get her spirits down.
For being as sick as she was, just her outlook on life was amazing, said Wendy Gamble, business administrator for the oceanography department and close friend to Ashley. I think thats the common ground youll find when you speak to anybody [about Ashley]. She just wanted other people to be happy.
Ashley didnt let a busy schedule get in the way of a chance to spend time with the people that meant the most to her.
Any time our group of friends talked about hanging out wed be like, Were all so busy, said Ashleys friend Julia OHern, an oceanography graduate student. She was just very good at reminding everyone to live in the moment and not take your friends and your family and your life for granted.
Ashley made an effort to unite her oceanography classmates by cooking American dinners for the international students in the department.
Wed have these weekly dinners and she was always a huge part of that she loved to bake, loved to cook, Mullins said. She was really engaged in helping to make international students feel at home in the department.
In addition to a love of culinary arts, Ashley was an accomplished cellist. She was a member of the Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra and its Quartet, played cello with the Littleton Symphony Orchestra in Colorado and was a volunteer cellist with the Tampa Bay Symphony while attending Eckerd College in Florida.
Ashley completed her undergraduate degree in marine science at Eckerd College and attended graduate school at Bristol University in the United Kingdom to study maritime archaeology. Later she had an internship in New Orleans to work at the Mardi Gras Shipwreck Project as an archaeological technician. She had a strong fascination with shipwrecks.
[Ashley] started diving when she was 12 years old, Marcy said. She just adored the water.
As a Colorado native, Ashley enjoyed camping, fishing, spending time floating rivers with her friends and being outside.
Sitting outside with her and the wind would blow, she would sit there and close her eyes and enjoy it, Gamble said. She really enjoyed the little things. And she helped me do that as well.