Ryan Johnson

Austin Hudson-LaPore was one of my best friends for the seven years that I spent at Albuquerque Academy. We were Science Bowl competition buddies, along with Ari and Ben. We got to know his family very well because his house was centrally located and we had sleepovers to study together. Laurie sometimes made us dinner and sometimes we would order out, but there were always tasty chocolate chip cookies. I remember going to one of Austin's parties where he received a book about the elements and I thought, "That is simply perfect." Anchoring the fourth chair (which is always at the end of the table), Austin was the chemistry whiz of our team. We often deferred to him when guessing. We shared many science bowl tournament journeys together, both at Albuquerque Academy and at the National Science Bowl in Colorado and Washington DC. Our greatest triumph was second place when competing in Colorado in the eighth grade (we lost to Honey Creek Middle School, which is not to be ashamed of). While I only saw him a few times after we all graduated and went our separate ways to college, we continued to be good friends and I wish I had seen him more. He was one of the most eager lovers of science I have ever known (he would have been the nerdiest and most awesome chemistry researcher) and a constant friend. Goodbye for now, Austin. May God take you up into his arms.