USC graduate was on missing flight

Recent USC graduate Qiao Xing was among the 227 passengers and 12 crew members on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The flight is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Remembrance · Qiao Xing graduated from USC in December 2012 and was on flight MH370 for a business trip for her employer, Shell Oil. – Photo courtesy of El Rodeo

Xing, also known as Joy, graduated from USC in December 2012 with a master’s degree in petroleum engineering.

Friends close to her said she had a unique perspective on life that lit up everyone around her.

“She was pretty optimistic and always looked on the bright side of life,” said Kaylee Yang, a friend of Xing’s and a senior majoring in environmental studies and business administration.

During Xing’s time at USC, she was an active member of campus religious life. At the beginning of her last semester in August 2012, Xing was baptized.

Yulin Billy Shen, another close friend and a USC graduate, said that Xing’s experience with God was “most important” to her during her time in the United States.

“The most important thing she [encountered] in the United States is that she knew God, which changed her life and her being a lot,” Shen said.

Xing would invite two friends to her apartment every Thursday to do Bible readings for an hour, said Yang, who attended the readings regularly.

Yang recalled that Xing enjoyed singing short hymns, such as Matthew 4:4 and 6:33.

“I remember her saying that she really got to know God during her time here at USC,” Yang said. “After the meeting with the Christian community here in Los Angeles, one of the Christians here introduced her to the church in China.”

After graduating from USC, Xing accepted a job as a reservoir engineer for Shell in Beijing and found time to meet with the same church in the city.

Keri Hui, another friend of Xing’s and a junior majoring in piano performance, said that Xing grew up during her time at USC and appreciated the help and support of the USC Christian community.

Xing also worked as a customer service representative for USC Housing and was a cashier at the USC Bookstore.

Shen noted that as a whole, Xing’s experience in the States was incredibly memorable.

“She was in the United States for only two years, but her experience was rich,” Shen said.

When Xing boarded Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, she was on a business trip for Shell, Hui said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday morning that new data and analysis by Inmarsat, a British satellite provider, and the British Air Accidents Investigation branch confirmed that flight MH370 is lost within a remote part of the Indian Ocean, according to The New York Times.

Prime Minister Najib said that based on pings received by the satellite, flight MH370 “ended up in the Southern Indian Ocean.”

Malaysia Airlines sent its condolences with a text message to the family members of the lost passengers and crew members Monday morning.

Friends of Xing said that despite their tragic loss, they are comforted knowing that Xing is with God.

“Regardless of the outcome, God really takes care of all his believers and I do believe she’s being taken care of,” Yang said.

When Hui thinks back to Xing at USC, all the memories she has of her lead to one common factor.

“She was very sweet to everyone,” said Hui. “I only remember that she always had a smile on her face.”