Winter break is a time for students to reset and take a break from classes, whether that means relaxing at home or hiking across the country on a journey with friends.
Cohort 34’s Morgan Hoffman, Advaith Bantval, Rohan Kasuganti, and Ritvik Jain at the Grand Canyon
Well, that’s exactly what QUESTees Ritvik Jain, Morgan Hoffman, Rohan Kasuganti, and Adviath Bantval (all of Cohort 34) did! The four of them, along with a non-QUEST friend, Tara Basir, went on a West Coast road trip, visiting five national parks. They started in LA, then went to Joshua Park National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, stopped in Las Vegas for tacos, and finished off the trip in Death Valley National Park. Their trip consisted of a lot of hiking, top-rope climbing, and stargazing while working their way through the parks. When asked why they went on the trip, Jain said, “It was just for fun. We are all outdoor-loving people so we wanted to do something special for our senior year.”
Cohort 34 students hiking at Zion National Park
In addition to that exciting trip, Amanda Liu of Cohort 37 had the amazing opportunity to spend two weeks in LA working on math videos that teach geometry and statistics for an ed-tech startup. When asked about the trip, Liu said, “I learned so much over the course of my trip! First, I got to experience what it’s like working in a startup environment, which was incredibly valuable as I am interested in working in the ed-tech/startup space in the future. Since I was mostly working with filming crew members, I also got some insight into the film and entertainment industry and realized there are many parallels between tech and entertainment. The people I worked with were incredibly creative, hard-working, and kind and taught me a lot about what it means to be a good team member.”
Amanda Lui of Cohort 37 in Los Angeles, California
Anna Colabewala of Cohort 33 spent her winter break backpacking through France and Belgium. Back in 2020, Colabewala studied abroad in Brussels, so she spent this trip visiting family and friends. “I have been learning French since middle school, and this was the first time I spoke it for so long and with local speakers. I was surprised at how easily I was able to speak French for so long and to express my thoughts in a coherent way. I learned about the different regions of France, including things like which cheeses come from where and how they’re made. Traveling by train from North to South, I was able to see differences in natural formations, culture, and linguistics throughout the country.”
Marseille at Parc National des Calanques, taken by Anna Colabewala of Cohort 33
Last, but certainly not least, Utsa Santhosh of Cohort 33 traveled to Orlando, Clearwater Beach, and Austin over winter break to spend time with her family. Her family went to Universal Studios and even got to see the marine hospital where the dolphins from the movie Dolphin Tale got rehabilitated! After Florida, Santhosh spent a week in Austin, Texas, where she got to spend a lot of quality time with her sister who goes to UT Austin. “My favorite part of the whole two trips was spending time with my sister! We got to do a lot of fun adventures, but I would have to say paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake was by far the highlight. I had never been paddle boarding before.”
Utsa Santhosh of Cohort 33 and her sister at Harry Potter World in Universal Studios
These QUEST students used these five weeks to go and explore the world, but now it’s back to classes… but just remember spring break starts on March 20th!