Cohort 36 takes their group photo at virtual QUEST Camp.
All QUEST students can remember the mixed emotions of experiencing orientation: the anticipation of meeting your team and the excitement of finally experiencing what the program is like. This semester, although Cohort 36 completed orientation virtually, all of those familiar emotions remained. As a mentor for Cohort 36 myself, I can say that the week was a success on all ends.
This semester, orientation was a three-day experience. Day one began with the find your team activity, where each student was given clues about their mentor and joined different breakout rooms until they found their team. Each team was given time to get to know everyone, do icebreakers, and have fun together!
On day two, there was a virtual escape room hosted by RecWell. This activity, while super fun, also encouraged teamwork and bonding. The day ended with the tradition of teams presenting their unique and punny names. Some of my favorites are “36 Problems but QUEST Ain’t One,” “QUESTadillas,” and “Lightning McQUEST.” The highlight of day three was the Pilot Product presentations! I was amazed by the creativity of these teams and how they were able to pull their ideas together in a limited time frame.
When asked about his experience, Cohort 36 student Adam Mirsky said, “Camp was different than my early expectations since we were really able to quickly hit the ground running from day one and begin to develop our team dynamic with not only bonding activities, but also measurable objectives with the development of a quality product.” Additionally, he said that his favorite parts of camp were “meeting with the QUEST guild during camp lunches; they all seem so committed to the program and the growth of its students. I also enjoyed winning the pilot products competition.”
From a mentor perspective, Jeanine Spiegel (Cohort 33) explained, “While untraditional, QUEST camp was a blast! The ability for teams to quickly become friends (even virtually) within days is something that speaks to the power of this community.”
After embracing orientation, Cohort 36 is ready to take on 190H together. We are excited to welcome them to QUEST and watch them grow throughout the semester!