Hi everyone! My name is Emily Kelly and I am the new Graduate Assistant for QUEST. I’m so excited to be working with the students in this program and the entire QUEST community. I grew up in Naperville, IL, a suburb about 45 minutes away from Chicago. I attended the University of Iowa for my undergrad and majored in Psychology with my main interest being in Educational Psychology. I just graduated in May 2015 so this has been a year full of changes for me!

This fall I will begin the Higher Education M.A. program in the College of Education here at UMD. I moved to D.C. a little less than a week ago and am very excited to start this new chapter of my life. This is my first time being out east and I love it so far, I am looking forward to being a Terp and seeing all that UMD has to offer.

I am extremely eager to meet both the QUEST students and alumni. The whole mission of this program really interests me and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a driven and intelligent group of people that have such varied interests.

Some fun facts about me: my favorite food is anything with buffalo chicken, but I also put buffalo sauce on just about any food. I studied abroad in Valladolid, Spain for a summer and spent three weeks in Pondicherry, India this past winter working in a school for kids with special needs and their mothers. I am a Harry Potter fanatic; I have read all of the books twice and even took a Harry Potter honors seminar during my undergrad (best class ever). My favorite shows are Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder.  I once was randomly stopped on the street and interviewed about shark attacks in America (that was my first and hopefully last TV appearance). The Chicago Blackhawks are my favorite sports team.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone in the upcoming weeks! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely,

Emily

New QUEST Graduate Assistant Emily Kelly on the field at Kinnick Stadium