Arati Sharangpani was a bright student who had attracted plenty of potential employers. But she kept searching for that elusive perfect job.

Thursday, - just before she boarded a plane back to the University of Michigan - she called a friend to say she'd found it, in sales at Procter & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati.

Friday, friends gathered outside her dorm room with candles and flowers to mourn the outgoing 21-year-old.

''She was radiant,'' said Padma Guthikonda, a UM senior in anthropology from Plymouth, Mich. ''She just had a smile on her face all the time. She was very energetic and truly concerned about people.''

Ms. Sharangpani was a resident assistant in a freshman dorm, running programs on stress management, time management and fitness, said Alan Levy, UM's director of housing public affairs.

Counselors helped students cope with their grief Friday.

''She was the most bubbly person in the world,'' said T. Rose Roane, UM's coordinator of residence education. ''Even if she was depressed, you wouldn't know it because she was so upbeat.''