The life of a vibrant, popular Northeastern University freshman who dreamed of one day becoming President of the United States was cut short Saturday in a tragic tubing accident that her family described as a fluke.

Adrienne Devino, 18, a communications major from Addison, Vt., was among 50 students on a trip sponsored by the Boston university to Loon Mountain in Lincoln. She died at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth after losing control of her tube and crashing into a tree, said Northeastern spokesman Fred McGrail.

"She was one of those people who did it all and did it all very well," Linda Devino said of her daughter, class president three years running at Vergennes Union High School.

Northeastern freshman James O'Brien, who was with Devino when she died, said they were on a lighted slope on Saturday after dinner when Devino, who was tubing a bit fast, slid off the designated path, hit an embankment and lost her tube out from under her.

Brittany Devino, 21, said her sister, one of four siblings, was "the most amazing person any of us ever met. So we all just figured she'd grow up to be President someday," she said.

Adrienne's best friend, Elyse Kauffman, said she brimmed with "high goals and lofty dreams."

"I was going to be her chief justice," she said. "She would have made a very compassionate and caring President. You would have listened to her speeches and thought she was talking right to you."

About 150 people attended a bonfire in her memory last night in Addison, a 1,400-person farm town, said Pam Wheeler, a friend from high school.

"She loved the city, but she was a country girl at heart," Wheeler said.

The last fatality at Loon was in January 2004 when Louis T. Cecere, 21, of Hudson suffered head injuries while snowboarding. He died of his injuries two days later.

And it was just one week ago that a Manchester man died on the slopes in a skiing accident at another area resort.

John O'Hara Sullivan, 38, died of injuries sustained March 25 at Cannon Mountain, after losing control on the Spookie Trail and veering into a wooded area.

According to the most recent statistics from the National Ski Areas Association, 39 fatalities were reported at ski resorts across the country during the 2005-2006 season -- 29 skiers, 10 snow boarders.