Kristi Takanishi’s life overflowed with promise.

As Kaiser High School’s 2015 top valedictorian, she revealed a compassionate heart by reaching out to each of her classmates to make a difference in the world, and urging them to take action to resolve the world’s problems and alleviate suffering.

She received a diploma from the school’s prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, “the most rigorous and challenging high school program in the world,” offered at Kaiser, said the school’s principal, Justin Mew.

Takanishi, a 19-year-old premed student at the University of Washington, had just completed her freshmen year June 10.

On Wednesday she was hiking above Manoa Falls when she plunged to the pool below. Hikers heard a thud and found her unconscious at the base of the falls. They brought her out of the water. Fire rescue personnel hiked to her and had her airlifted to a waiting ambulance.

She was taken in critical condition to the hospital and died Friday.

The Medical Examiner’s office identified her Monday but did not provide the cause of death.

“She wanted to be a doctor,” said a close friend and fellow UW student from Hawaii, who asked not to be identified. “She was really smart. She did well in college and got good grades. She knew she wanted to go into the medical field, so she tried really hard in school. She was more of like a natural, smart student.”

The two freshmen, both valedictorians of their Hawaii high schools, met in college and had a lot of the same math and science classes together and studied together.

“Especially in the beginning we hung out a lot,” she said, adding that they would be joined by a couple of other Hawaii students and study or hang out together.

“Towards the end we all had our own group of people,” she said. “We would always hang out once in a while. She found a good group of mainland friends, too. It was so hard telling them the news over social media, but I feel like it was important for her other friends to know what happened.

“She was very outgoing and free-spirited,” her friend said. “She definitely went on a lot of hikes and loved to go out and do stuff, hiking or meeting new people. She was always down to do different things and was never hesitant.”

She added, “She also loved to dance. “In college she performed dance on her own. She was a contemporary dancer. I knew she wanted to pursue dance up there but didn’t get to do that the first year.”

In high school Takanishi performed ballet and free-form dance, won her school’s dance competition and went on to compete in the statewide PTSA’s Reflections dance competition, Mew said.

Drew Matsuura, a recent UW graduate who had served as vice president of Hui Hoaloha Ulana, the school’s Hawaii club, said he learned the news from an Instagram post.

“She was always really nice, easy to talk to, down to earth and friendly,” he said. “Just a really nice girl.”

He said she participated in club events, including car wash fundraisers and other activities.

“Our generation is believed to be the all-about-me generation,” Takanishi said at her graduation speech. “We cannot let our desire for individual success alone dictate our future. We must also consider the success of the world as a whole.

“No matter how we decide to spend our future, no matter what career or profession we choose, opportunities to provide positive impact and to genuinely help others will always arise,” she said. “We can take action in an attempt to resolve them.

“Each and every one of us is capable of contributing to the alleviation of such issues, whether they be the doctors who heal the wounded, the aid workers who recover the injured, artists who help damage souls repair themselves or the compassionate individuals who establish fundraisers.

“All of us are potential impacts to the world,” she said.

She concluded with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Make the most of yourself for that is all there is in you.”

Takanishi is survived by father Dr. Danny Takanishi Jr.; mother Gayle; twin sister, Kiri, who is also a UW student; younger sister Kirsten; and grandmother Florence Takanishi.