Regardless of how Maryland Football may be performing in a given season, you can always count on UMD students to wake up on Saturday morning and cheer on the Terps with their friends and families at a tailgate. This semester, QUEST Social was able to host its signature Student Alumni Tailgate for the Homecoming game on Saturday, October 30th. I caught up with QSocial lead and Cohort 34 Senior Jess Yeager to learn more about how the event went. 

QUESTees enjoying the Homecoming tailgate!

Jess explained that the Student Alumni Tailgate has been a pinnacle tradition of the QUEST program for years: “As our first in-person student-alumni event in almost two years, it was great to be able to connect with not only current QUESTees but also QUESTees from the past as well!” I personally got to catch up with my mentor from BMGT 190H, Cohort 29 alumna Ari Riske, for the first time since Spring 2020! This year’s Student-Alumni Tailgate was also special because QSocial had set up a secret celebration for Dr. Hassan Ibrahim as the new interim QUEST Director! Dr. Ibrahim and QUESTees alike celebrated the Terps over delicious goodies like cake, muffins, and various types of juices and ciders. QSocial also brought out QUEST’s very own QUEST-themed corn hole boards for some friendly competition among QUESTees. 

QUEST Social collaborated with QUEST Creative for this spectacular event! Jess wanted to give a special shout out to QCreative lead Sarah D’Souza, Cohort 33, for all of her help. When asked what’s planned next semester for QSocial, Jess told me that QSocial is looking forward to its first QUEST Formal since 2019. Thank you Jess and QUESTSocial for all you do to bring the QUEST Community together! QUEST wouldn’t be the same without you. 

Surprising Dr. Ibrahim