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Friends and family of Julien D’Avanzo, a third-year history student and a resident assistan

Julien D’Avanzo didn’t care about schoolwork all that much. He didn’t always pay his fraternity dues. And he’d often skip sleep on a school night to chat with a floormate.

But those who love the third-year history student say that more than anyone else they knew, D’Avanzo had his priorities straight in life.

Julien kept his friends for life, even the ones from kindergarten, said D’Avanzo’s mother, Kathleen.

“If you were a friend of his, you were a friend for life,” she said.

D’Avanzo, 20, died early Thursday morning after falling from a third-floor balcony in Saxon Suites.

Russel Hess, one of D’Avanzo’s best friends, said the third-year was always there for him.

Last year, Hess, a second-year Russian studies and history student, was set on living on the third floor of Rieber Hall, where D’Avanzo was a resident assistant.

When the floor filled to capacity, leaving Hess to live somewhere else, D’Avanzo was quick with a solution.

“He said if you ever need to, just sleep on my floor,” Hess said.

So, with sleeping bag in tow, Hess slept on D’Avanzo’s floor for months. And when D’Avanzo would come home to his guest asleep on his bed some nights, he’d take the floor.

“He’s always got my back,” Hess added.

Though D’Avanzo was known as a free spirit, his friends said he took the responsibilities he cared about seriously and rarely missed a chance to get involved.

“He had so much to give. There was so much potential,” his mother said.

Along with his role as a Rieber Hall resident assistant, D’Avanzo was a candidate in the current Undergraduate Students Association Council election, for the position of external vice president.

And he actively participated at his fraternity, said David Bresler, Sigma Pi president and second-year undeclared student.

Earlier this week, when D’Avanzo coached his fraternity’s water polo match, floormate Peter Gjerset got a quick peek at his RA’s strategy sheet. On his clipboard, Gjerset said, were two bullet points: “don’t lose” and “win.”

Though D’Avanzo’s friends say the 20-year-old rarely took life too seriously, it wasn’t uncommon to catch him up at ungodly hours discussing philosophy and life in the hall or study lounge.

“It was almost unavoidable to not talk about these things when you were hanging out with him,” Magana said. “He has something interesting to say about everything. He made everything an experience.”

D’Avanzo’s mother compared her son’s life to a line from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden.”

“He marched to his own drummer,” she said.

He was known for being unique, with an eclectic sense of style.

He never wore a tuxedo to high school dances, opting instead for the wackiest formal wear he could find at local thrift shops, his mother said.

“On Halloween, he dressed as a box,” she added, taking a moment afterwards to compose herself.

Magana said his individuality stood in stark contrast to many of his other friends at UCLA, a place where friendship and fun often take a backseat to grade point average and career goals.

“I see people into their future, pre-med or whatever. Julien didn’t abide by that,” he said. “Not that he didn’t care. He just had different priorities.”

Many of D’Avanzo’s loved ones have decided mourning his untimely death would be inappropriate.

There are no plans for a traditional funeral, his mother said.

“It’s going to be a celebration of life,” she said.

But as much as they’d like to celebrate instead of mourn, many of D’Avanzo’s friends said they couldn’t help but hurt.

On Thursday afternoon, D’Avanzo’s floor in Rieber Hall was eerily quiet, and those who came and went looked almost lost.

Second-year history and English student Peter Gjerset sat in his dorm room with his guitar, strumming away, fighting off tears as he remembered his friend.

“Julien just had love for everyone,” Gjerset said. “He left an amazing impact on the world. It’s a tragedy he couldn’t do more.”