Morgan Lide: Cobb County high school student dies during study abroad

A high school student from Georgia has drowned while on a prestigious study abroad program in Indonesia.

Morgan Lide, a senior from Marietta, was swimming in the ocean along the coast of Bali with her host family on Sunday when they lost sight of her.

They later found her further along the shore, but she could not be resuscitated by lifeguards, Principal David Chiprany, from her former school, Wheeler High School, told students on Monday.

Loss: Morgan Lide (pictured back, center) has drowned during a study abroad year in Indonesia

She had attended the high school for three years before starting the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad Program in September, the Atlanta Joual-Constitution reported.

The year abroad is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and allows students to lea about another culture while continuing high school.Lide blogged about her experiences abroad, posting pictures of life with her host family and reflecting on the importance of what she was undertaking.

In a post on September 13, she reflected on 9/11 and heading to the Muslim world for a year.

'Call me reckless or maybe naive, but I'm not worried at all about my year (well actually I am a bit nervous, but not in terms of safety),' she wrote. 'I feel that what I'm doing is important and relevant.'

Devoted: Morgan was part of a U.S. Department of State-sponsored program for high school students

 

Involved: Morgan, pictured right with fellow students from the program, lived with a host family in Indonesia

On September 20, a day before she left, she added: 'Life as I know it is about to end in just one day.

'Tomorrow moing I leave my family, friends, and hometown, something that I should be completely overwhelmed by, but that somehow I feel strangely calm about.'

On her blog, which paints her as an intelligent, passionate and optimistic teenager, she describes teaching English to children, fasting for Eid and her home life with her host family in Bandung.

'I'm living with a host family, attending a local high school, and leaing the language and culture of Indonesia,' she wrote. 'Plus cramming in as much else as I possibly can in my approx. 10 months abroad.'

Her community back in Georgia was left stunned by the death of the promising student.

'Yesterday, Wheeler lost a beautiful, kind and amazing young woman - Morgan Lide,' members of her school band wrote. 'Morgan touched the lives of so many with her smile, love and kindness.

Kind: Morgan is pictured volunteering in a local community project in Marietta, Georgia this summer

Missed: School friends in Georgia held a moment's silence and wore blue for Morgan, center, on Monday

Scene: She disappeared while swimming with her host family and was found along the shore (file picture)

'Morgan embarked on an amazing jouey her senior year of high school as a youth ambassador in Indonesia. Tragically, she drowned while with friends.

'Our hearts and prayers are with Morgan, her family, friends and Indonesian host family. Morgan we will miss you and you will be in our hearts forever, may you Rest in Peace.'

On Monday, students wore blue to school in honour of the teenager, and the school held a moment of silence. Counselors were also on hand at the school to help students.

Morgan is survived by her parents, Lori and Chuck, and an older sister, Catherine. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.