One of QUEST’s biggest benefits is its robust and involved alumni community. This summer, QUEST alumni hosted happy hour events in cities like Baltimore, Seattle, Boston, Washington D.C., and New York City. These events were great opportunities for students to expand their network and alumni to reconnect with former cohort members. I spoke to two alumnae who planned their local happy hours to hear about their experience. 

Alumna Haroula Tzamaras from Cohort 26 co-planned the Boston happy hour at Pink Taco. She’s currently pursuing a PhD at Penn State following a career as a mechanical design engineer. She found the most rewarding part of the event to be getting to connect with fellow Bostonian alumni. She found people with similar interests and was able to share their University of Maryland experiences. Alumna Nicole Shaw-Provillon from Cohort 4 and current owner of experiential boutique bakery Kurly Kürtősh organized the New York City happy hour at Houndstooth Pub and shared a similar sentiment with Tzamaras. She really enjoyed the chance to catch up with the Maryland community including alumni, advisers, and young professionals.

NYC Happy Hour via Nicole Shaw-Provillon

Both spoke of the perks for students that took advantage of this opportunity. Tzamaras shared that event goers all connected with each other on LinkedIn and shared contact information to meet up later. Shaw-Provillon noted that she made a business contact and that students were socializing and gaining advice from QUEST alumni.

QUEST happy hours are just one of the awesome opportunities that being a QUEST member provides. Perfect for students and alumni, it’s important to always be striving to grow your network. Thanks to all of our summer happy hour alumni hosts: