Article by Shirley Han (Q19)

My name is Shirley Han and I am a member of Cohort 19. I am currently studying Accounting and Information Systems here at University of Maryland. I am originally from Canton, Massachusetts (southeast of Boston) and am a proud fan of all Boston sports! Although I have always considered Massachusetts my home and have lived in the same town for 20 years, when it came to applying to colleges, I knew I wanted to go out of state to gain new experiences and meet new people, even though Boston is known for its great schools. Thus, I applied to a variety of schools, such as University of Michigan, University of Texas, UMASS, UCONN, McGill, Washington University in St. Louis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and, obviously, University of Maryland. I ended up choosing Maryland because of its great business school, good location, financial aid and, also, QUEST. I first learned about QUEST at the accepted student orientation and when my parents and I heard about the program, we were immediately impressed and drawn to the program.

While applying for colleges, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. Thus, the way I initially chose my major was by crossing out everything that I knew I did not want to do on a general list of majors and business was the only thing left over. Luckily business is applicable across all industries and thus, I ended up applying to become a business major. However, when I got to college, I had no idea what I wanted to major in within the business school. After taking introductory business classes and attending professional events, I ended up declaring accounting and information systems. Although next summer, I will be interning with a Big 4 accounting firm, I still am not sure what or where I would like to work after graduation. I have always been interested in potentially working abroad and traveling. Thus next semester I will be “practicing” living abroad by studying at the University of Hong Kong as an exchange student. My dream job would be to work for the Olympics one day, but because I am already past my “athletic prime” (not that I was ever close to making an Olympic team), I hope that one day I am able to apply my set of professional skills towards something I am passionate about.

Even though I am a little more than half way done with college (sadly), the greatest decision I have made in college is joining QUEST. Ever since I first learned about QUEST and attended the information session as a freshman, I knew it was an organization and community I wanted to be part of. I was so drawn to the program because everyone that I met was so passionate about QUEST and was all equally motivated towards whatever they were interested in. The day I found out I got into QUEST, ironically, Varisha Parikh (Q18, also on the QUEST Recruiting Team) happened to walk by when I exclaimed I got into QUEST and congratulated me. QUEST has provided me with so much that I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am. In addition, QUEST has significantly impacted my family because when I moved in early for QUEST camp, my father also came down to interview for a job in the D.C. area. My father ended up getting the job and since then I have been so grateful for QUEST because I associate the program with my father’s professional progression. QUEST has already given me so much that I hope to give back to QUEST as much as I can as a student and future graduate. I am looking forward to working with the rest of the QUEST Recruiting team and recruiting the best talent and minds for Cohort 21 this year! Specials thanks to everyone involved in QUEST and loves, hugs, kisses and misses for my parents!