Article by Reeta Francis (Q17)
On May 7th, the space shuttle Endeavour was launched in Cape Canaveral, the Germans signed the German Instrument of Surrender in Rheims France ending World War II, and Glenn Miller recorded “Chattanooga Choo Choo” with his orchestra. More importantly, May 7th was the day that QUEST hosted its annual QSO BBQ, a welcome to new QUEST students and a farewell to departing QUEST graduates.
Reeta Francis (second from right), enjoys quality time with QUEST friends and Testudo at the annual QSO BBQ
This year, QSO did an outstanding job, grilling and thrilling into the wee hours of the afternoon on the Washington Quad. Aside from the customary mingling of new and old cohorts, the barbeque was supplemented with excellent music, Frisbee, and volleyball. The crown jewel of the event of course was the Dunder Mifflin inspired sumo suits that students put on for friendly face offs. Testudo served as referee over the matches, though he did not manage to remain impartial as Senior Olivia Shin can attest; she received a “gentle” shove from Testudo while facing off against Senior Ryan “The Barbarian” Ganser. Defeat came swiftly for the valiant Olivia, who was subjected to being rolled like sushi by victor Ganser. The great Dr. Bailey himself was bold enough to face off against young buck Christopher Huie-Spence. Although evenly matched in height and build, the force was with Dr. Bailey, who came out as the victor.
In addition to the frolicking, QSO used the barbeque as a platform for its philanthropic efforts to raise money for the Japanese tsunami relief. Raffling off an Under Armour Japan relief t-shirt during the BBQ, QSO was able to raise around $100 for tsunami relief.
Overall this year’s BBQ was a success. QSO Cohort 18 representative Manas Kulkarni stated that “having seen the planning process from start to finish, it was rewarding to see how much all four cohorts enjoyed the BBQ. Though the sumo suits probably deserve a lot of the credit, I think the efforts of both QSO and the Guild should be commended. I can’t wait to see what happens next spring!” Junior Emily Pearson also felt that the sumo suits were a success saying, “the sumo wrestling at the QUEST BBQ made it an unforgettable farewell to our seniors and introduction to QUEST for Cohort 19. I am wondering if Cohort 19 is worried about what they signed up for… But I had a blast!