Since its beginning in 1992, the QUEST Honors Program has taken in 38 cohorts of students, providing tangible professional skills, friendships, and memories to last a lifetime. QUEST students have worked with 117 unique project sponsors on 276 different projects, using problem-solving skills to develop real-world solutions to complex challenges. This year, QUEST is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and there will be multiple ways to get involved in the celebration!
One of the ways QUEST will celebrate is by holding an event for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and corporate partners. This event will be hosted on Saturday, November 12th from 6-8 PM on the rooftop of The Hotel at the University of Maryland. This event will serve as an opportunity for all members of the QUEST community to reunite and connect with one another. More information to come as it gets closer!
I was lucky enough to speak with Debbie Feinberg, a QUEST alumna on the event planning committee. Feinberg was a member of QUEST’s first cohort, starting her QUEST journey in 1992. When I asked her why she got involved in planning the 30th-anniversary event, she said that “the 25th Anniversary was a phenomenal weekend” and that “she is happy to help out the QUEST program in any way she can.” Feinberg was an accounting major who graduated in 1996 and started working at Deloitte shortly after. In 1998, she began working for the QUEST Program as the Director of Corporate Relations where she was able to help students with career readiness and resume prep, along with establishing partnerships with companies. During this time she also met her husband, who was an instructor for a QUEST course at the time! Feinberg spoke about how meeting her husband was definitely one of her favorite QUEST memories. When I asked Feinberg how QUEST has helped her post-graduation, she said that “QUEST has given [her] the confidence to just go for it” with the experience she gained from the multidisciplinary, experiential projects. Currently, Feinberg is the CFO of Parabilis, which is a government contract financing company, where she still utilizes the skills learned in QUEST.
Debbie Feinberg speaking at QUEST’s 25th Anniversary Gala in 2017
I also had the pleasure of speaking with Manas Kulkarni, another alumnus on the event planning committee. Kulkarni was in Cohort 18 and graduated in 2013 from the Smith School. He shared that “QUEST is easily one of the best things that [he] did at UMD,” and although he hasn’t been too involved in the QUEST community over the past couple of years, he thought getting involved in the event planning committee would be a great way to give back. Specifically, one of Kulkarni’s favorite QUEST memories was going on a winter break trip to Brazil, which was led by Dr. Bailey. On this trip, the students were able to visit a variety of different companies, but also hang out with each other and explore Brazil. When I asked Kulkarni how QUEST has helped him after graduation, he connected how much of the skills he gained apply to his current role in revenue operations, which is a cross-functional team. Specifically, he explained that 490H taught him that “just because someone wants to pursue an idea doesn’t mean it’s the right idea to pursue,” meaning that “if your client wants to pursue an idea, think about why, and what will be the impacts of that idea.”
In addition to these wonderful alumni, current students Kayla Malone (Cohort 36) and Luke Muratore (Cohort 37) are also on the event planning committee. Malone is a junior who is majoring in Finance and Information Systems, and Muratore is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science.
Malone explained that she wanted to get involved because “QUEST has been an impactful organization on [her] college experience and [she] saw this as a way to give back to the program.” Her favorite QUEST memory thus far “is [her] weekly meetups with QUESTee Jeannie Spiegel (Cohort 33) for chats and QRecruiting meetings!” As Malone is currently taking BMGT 390H, she is looking forward to taking the capstone course BMGT 490H especially because her two roommates are currently taking the course and she loves hearing about their experiences. Similar to Malone, Muratore expressed that he joined the committee to get more involved in the QUEST community and that he knew “this was going to be a really great event for both alumni and students.” His favorite memory was his QUEST orientation, particularly when his team presented their pilot product idea. Muratore said that it was special how “one semester in QUEST can lead to a whole group of new friends,” and that he is excited to be taking the data course (438A) this semester and for QUEST formal this spring!
In anticipation of the event, you can get excited by watching this video highlighting QUEST over the past 30 years. Additionally, look forward to Giving Day on March 9th. During Giving Day, QUEST will be fundraising for its 30th anniversary, which goes towards continuing to provide students with programming and unique, experiential learning.
Lastly, QUEST is looking for alumni to provide updates so that they can be celebrated on social media throughout the year. If you are an alum who is interested in being featured, please submit updates through this form!
As a current senior in the QUEST Program, it was heartwarming to hear the stories of individuals from Cohort 1 to Cohort 37 and the impact that QUEST has left on them. I am already looking forward to coming to the 30th anniversary event to reunite with my cohort, and hopefully, meet many more QUESTees (past and present)!