The QUEST Honors Program at UMD is a popular and selective program. But what makes the program so popular? Or rather, who?

This month, I had the pleasure of talking to some of the members of a fabulous QUEST student organization: QUEST Recruiting. Let’s see what they’ve been up to!

This year, QUEST Recruiting is led by Lauren Gomes (Cohort 38) and Rajit Mukhopadhyay (Cohort 39). As co-leads of QUEST Recruiting, Gomes and Mukhopadhyay have the responsibility for the logistics of the organization. From preparing the meeting agendas to maintaining the internal schedule, they make sure that all recruitment events run smoothly. Mudit Mathur (Cohort 39) heads the Community Outreach Subteam and Valeria Salas-Dietz (Cohort 39) heads the Digital Promotion Committee, while also both assist in planning events.

Some of the events that QUEST Recruiting runs include tabling around campus, sending out promotional emails, and leading information sessions for prospective QUESTees. In fact, they just finished up their information sessions for the upcoming application cycle, with over 260 attendees. “It’s always a great experience to engage with prospective QUESTees, and it’s really cool to see students [once admitted] in new cohorts that you once spoke to at an info session!” Mathur said.

QUEST Recruiting at a Recent Information Session

Now that information sessions are done, application season is in full swing! QUEST Recruiting has the responsibility of designing and running part of QUEST interviews, which will take place in the spring. Mukhopadhyay says this is a crucial aspect of the program and QRecruiting because it emphasizes what is important about QUEST, which allows them to come up with a “creative set of ideas that merge into how future cohorts officially start with the program.”

Also, QRecruiting will be taking over multiple Instagram accounts to promote QUEST. “We have a couple cool Instagram takeovers coming up on the different schools’ Instagram accounts and on our own QUEST Instagram @questumd so look out for those!” Salas-Dietz said. 

Finally, in true QUEST fashion, QRecruiting comes together at The Hall to celebrate big milestones and bond. Gomes thinks this is equally important as the recruitment work. “The work we do isn’t light work,” she shared. “We are the facilitators of the pipeline from prospective to current students. It’s important to prioritize celebrating my team, rewarding their efforts, and cheering for future successes. We best encapsulate these celebrations during our bonding events.”

Congratulations on all the hard work so far, QRecruiting! We can’t wait to see what new QUESTees you have for us.