Kevin Costello should have spent last Friday doing what every college freshman does during his or her first couple of weeks at their new campus and home—settling into dorm life, getting to know his classmates, and looking forward to the semester ahead.

Instead, Costello’s family and friends remembered the 17- year-old in a private memorial along the coast of Monterey Bay, after he died Aug. 31 from serious injuries sustained in an accidental fall in the Marin Headlands.

Costello, who graduated from North Monterey County High School last June and had just moved to San Francisco, slipped and fell into a remote cove while hiking as part of a retreat for the school’s incoming freshman in the Presidential Scholars Program.

“He was a joy,” said Jeremy Rubenstein, Costello’s high school English teacher.
“It’s such a loss.”

Rubenstein said that Costello was an extremely hard working student, who always completed his assignments thoroughly, and engaged his classmates in intelligent and respectful discussions of important issues. He added that in addition to his English studies, Costello loved science and music, particularly jazz and punk.

“It’s hard for me to convey to anybody who didn’t know him how totally exceptional this kid was—definitely one of a kind. I taught at UCSC for 5 years, and this is my fourth or fifth year of doing high school, and he was the smartest kid I’ve ever had in either place—period.”