A 19 year old St. Mary’s College student was killed Thursday night when her bicycle collided with a car.

The accident happened in the dark, in the rain, on State Road 933 at the entrance to the college.

The victim has been identified as Ziqi Zhang from China.

Today, Zhang was described as nothing short of brilliant.

She’s a sophomore and one of only a dozen or so students at St. Mary’s pursuing a dual degree, “Which means that she was earning a degree here and also an engineering degree over at Notre Dame, so mathematics degree here, engineering degree over at Notre Dame,
very aggressive program,” said St. Mary’s Spokesperson Gwen O’Brien.

Zhang spent last summer doing nanotechnology research at Notre Dame as a recipient of a 2012 undergraduate research fellowship which was described as quite a feat for an underclassman.

A memorial service for Zhang will be held on Tuesday of next week.

Word of her death is bound to be a shock for students who were off on fall break this week, and will be returning to campus over the weekend.

“Our primary focus at this time is helping the students who are friends with her and the faculty members, very close to many of the faculty members here, helping them to deal with this news and we have counselors available whenever they may need,” said O’Brien.

Police say that Zhang was riding without a helmet and wearing dark clothing at the time of the crash. Police believe the approaching car had the green light at the intersection.

Zhang entered the intersection from the west, while the car was traveling north.