I had the pleasure of speaking with Vikas and Arya Mahajan–the first-ever parent-child pair in the QUEST community. Vikas was part of Cohort 2 in the mid-90s and was an Accounting major during his time at UMD. Arya is a current UMD student studying Finance and Information Systems in Cohort 45. 

Prior to starting at Maryland, Vikas had done his research, found the QUEST program, and was immediately interested. He enjoyed the program’s emphasis on collaboration, team building, high quality products, and leveraging technology. Arya had heard about the program from her dad and started talking to people in QUEST during her Smith School mentors class last year. 

Now that Arya is in the program, the pair consistently talk about QUEST. “My dad was the first person that I called when I finished my 290H presentation last week,” said Arya. The two often text and talk about Arya’s class and project. “My QUEST team even asked him for advice about the presentation and were so excited to meet him at the QUEST Conference,” she shared.

Vikas said he’s always curious about Arya’s QUEST experience and was especially excited to hear about QUEST camp, which he also participated in 30+ years ago. “It’s hard to stand out in such a large campus,” said Vikas. “But with QUEST, you have a small group together for three years – you have a community which makes the college experience much better.”

When asked about what he remembered most from the program, Vikas mentioned that the program helped him with teamwork, motivating others, and creating long-lasting friendships. “As a more introverted person,” he said, “it really made me feel like a part of a team.” In terms of how the QUEST program has changed, Vikas says that students today have even more opportunities than ever including more courses, travel opportunities, and companies to work with. 

“Now that we’re in a world that’s so global, everyone has to work together, and QUEST was at the cutting edge of how to deal with different people from different backgrounds.”

Having just started QUEST this fall, Arya is enjoying being a part of QUEST Recruiting. “Now that I’m on the other side of recruitment, it’s been nice to get to know a lot of freshmen that could potentially be a part of the program,” said Arya. Through 290H, QUEST has helped her learn how to work in a team and she also enjoyed the October QUEST Networking Event, which taught her how to speak professionally and stand out to companies. 

As Arya began the program, Vikas shared sound advice about working in a team: “You have two ears and one mouth, so listening is key.” In his advice to current QUEST students, Vikas mentioned an amazing book that used to be assigned in QUEST classes. “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig,” said Vikas. “It is a semi-autobiographical story about a motorcycle journey with a father and son that has a philosophical discussion of quality, which goes deeper than just products and technology.” Everyone check out the book, and thank you so much to Vikas and Arya for speaking with QUESTPress!