Author Archives: Tanu Kulkarni

A Sight into the Site Visit: QUESTees Visit Root3 Labs

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Though I love being a student in the Smith School of Business, one of my favorite perks of being a QUESTee is exposure to diverse companies that I don’t typically see at Smith’s career fairs. I was granted such an opportunity in February when QUEST Corporate announced a company visit to a product development consulting firm called Root3Labs. Though I knew very little about engineering consulting, I was eager to learn more about the firm and the kind of client work they performed. I signed up for the visit immediately and started thinking of questions I had for the founder. 

QUESTees in front of Root3Labs

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Cohort 35’s Gabby Williams Empowers Black Women Leaders

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After graduating from college, many alumni want to help their alma mater by connecting current students to post-graduate opportunities. However, Cohort 35 student Gabby Williams is creating opportunities for fellow students while still in college herself. Williams is currently serving as the Chief Marketing Officer of the HelpHer Foundation, whose mission is to empower Black women in the sports and technology industries. I was able to sit down with Gabby and learn a little more about her role at the HelpHer Foundation as well as how she balances HelpHer with being a highly involved college student. 

Cohort 35’s Gabby Williams

I was first curious about the origins of the HelpHer Foundation. Gabby explained that the idea of HelpHer was born in November 2020 during a conversation between Gabby, her sister Sydni, and her cousin Nacomi about the barriers Black women face breaking into industries such as sports and technology. All three agreed that these industries needed more representation of Black women, and more importantly, they wanted to take action to achieve this goal. To quote Williams, “We need Black womens’ voices in these spaces, and we need them to stay in these spaces!” 

The HelpHer Foundation Team

The HelpHer Foundation aims to increase the number of Black women in sports and technology through three main pillars: career development, community, and empowerment. To do so, they select a cohort of Black women every calendar year. Once admitted, HelpHer provides its students with resources such as resume reviews, mock interviews, and professional panels relevant to sports and technology. For example, HelpHer recently hosted a panel with two Black women professionals: one marketing analyst from the NBA and one university specialist from Google! Besides professional development, the HelpHer Foundation also provides a community of Black female leaders who are helping inspire one another to break down boundaries that women before them faced. “We want students to know that we got you, and the rest of the students got you as well,” explained Williams.

HelpHer’s Resume Review Panel Event

HelpHer’s first students were the result of hours of reaching out to personal connections and LinkedIn cold messaging. As a result, HelpHer now boasts 12 active students in their 2021 Cohort, and their 2022 Cohort applications are open now too! These women are from various colleges in the DMV area, but Williams hopes to eventually expand across the entire East Coast. Aside from student reach-out, as Chief Marketing Officer, Williams is specifically responsible for HelpHer’s website development and creating social media content for LinkedIn and Instagram. She meets with the team weekly and the three women lay out their agenda, previous weeks’ projects, and upcoming weeks’ tasks. With this level of organization, it’s easy to see how Williams fits right in on any QUEST team. 

HelpHer Foundation’s Services

When asked how she manages her role on this start-up and her life here at UMD, Williams stressed the importance of time management, passion, and saying no to opportunities. “It’s okay to not do everything under the sun,” explained Williams. “You should choose what you’re passionate about and really focus in on that. If you’re not passionate, when another opportunity comes along, you’ll want to pay more attention to that.” She also explained how the HelpHer Team aims to keep meetings to a minimum length. “We’re family, so it’s easy to want to chat for an entirety of a meeting, but we set five minutes at the beginning of a meeting to catch up. Then we use a Google Table, which is basically like a Gantt Chart, to prioritize what we’re working on that week. I credit QUEST for teaching me how to run a meeting like this – it has definitely saved me so much time in the long run!” Finally, when asked to give advice for any other fellow college students looking to start their own company, Willams highlighted leaning on your network. “What I’ve found is that nine times out of ten your network is there to help you. Utilize it!”  

The entire QUEST community is so proud of Williams and her team for the launch and continued success of The HelpHer Foundation! If you’d like to learn more about the foundation, you can check out their website here, their LinkedIn here, or their Instagram here. Additionally, if you identify as a Black woman interested in sports or technology, apply for the 2022 HelpHer Cohort here! 

QUEST Highlights of the Back-In-Person Semester

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After nearly two years of virtual classes, team meetings, presentations, and posters sessions, QUESTees were thrilled to be back in person this semester. I polled a few QUESTees with the question: “What was YOUR favorite QUEST moment of the semester?” Stories ranged from QUEST Camp memories to the recent BMGT 490H Conference. Read students’ favorite QUEST memories from the semester below!

“Early this semester, QUEST Recruiting had a little Chipotle hang out for us to get to (finally!) see each other in person. It was definitely one of my favorite QUEST moments because I had been working on Zoom with these people for a year and was super excited to finally get to hang out with them in person and overall just have a good time!” – Ishaan Kapur, Cohort 36

“My favorite QUEST memory of the semester was going to the Firefly Music Festival with 6 other members of Q34! We rented a big campsite and spent the weekend seeing a bunch of our favorite artists. It was so much fun spending time outside of the QUEST curriculum, especially because I had the opportunity to bond with 2 other members of my BMGT 490H team” – Kevin Senkus, Cohort 34

Cohort 37 at QUEST Camp

“I really enjoyed getting to bond with my BMGT 190H team during QUEST camp. I remember we did an activity where we wrote our goals on pieces of paper and threw them across a field. We had to find creative ways to carry our teammates across the field to help them pick up their goals, and I think this really brought us together and helped us build a strong friendship within the team!” – Meghana Padmanabhan, Cohort 37

“Early in the semester, I was in the QUEST Lab between classes, and I noticed some Q36 students struggling on a homework for the data class. Since I was the previous TA for the class, I was able to help them out and answer their questions which was super rewarding!” – Amod Mathur, Cohort 33

Former BMGT 190H Group “OktoberQUEST,” now 490H Students, Reunited with Mentor Gina Wingate at the QUEST Conference

“​​My favorite QUEST moment from this semester was during the QUEST conference when my BMGT 190H mentor, Gina Wingate, came back to see us give our capstone presentations. It was particularly rewarding because most of my BMGT 490H team was also on my 190H team, so she could see how we’ve grown through the QUEST program between our rough Circular Design projects and now with our capstones. After she saw all of her mentees present, she gave us homemade gifts with our 190H team name on it. Overall, it was so rewarding to see her and reflect on how much she helped me over the years whether she knew it or not.” – Advaith Bantval, Cohort 34

“I loved presenting our first BMGT 190H presentations. It was rewarding to present what we had put so much hard work into and getting dressed in a suit is always fun :)” – Sami Bouhussein, Cohort 37

“One of my favorite QUEST memories from the semester actually happened about a month before the semester began. About 10 members of Q34 came and spent the weekend at my lake house! We definitely had a lot of cohort bonding swimming, kayaking and boating with lots of water gun fights in between. For sure a weekend of QUEST that I will never forget!” – Jessica Yeager, Cohort 34

“It has been amazing to come back to school and learn alongside all my mentors, friends, and role models. I am so grateful for the QUEST community.” – Aaliya Hussain, Cohort 35

Kayla with fellow QUESTees!

“I have two favorite QUEST moments. The first was experiencing my first QUEST Conference in person. It was a really amazing experience because I was able to see how all of the QUEST classes came together for the BMGT 490H presentations. I also really enjoyed getting to meet all of the other cohorts of QUEST at the conference. My second favorite memory was the many different relationship-building moments that I’ve had related to QUESTees in my life. I live with two QUESTees, and it was always fun to come back to my place to debrief what I learned in class. I also really enjoyed meeting and mentoring my QUEST little who I share a lot in common with!” – Kayla Malone, Cohort 36 

What was your favorite QUEST moment of the semester? Let us know in the comments. The staff at QUESTPress hopes everyone had an enjoyable semester and wishes you all good luck on finals! 

Students and Alumni Reunite at the QUEST Homecoming Tailgate

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Regardless of how Maryland Football may be performing in a given season, you can always count on UMD students to wake up on Saturday morning and cheer on the Terps with their friends and families at a tailgate. This semester, QUEST Social was able to host its signature Student Alumni Tailgate for the Homecoming game on Saturday, October 30th. I caught up with QSocial lead and Cohort 34 Senior Jess Yeager to learn more about how the event went. 

QUESTees enjoying the Homecoming tailgate!

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Meet the 2021-2022 QUESTPress Staff

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A September in College Park means many things: football games, cooler weather, walks across campus, and my favorite part: new extracurricular opportunities! Six QUESTees took advantage of new opportunities this fall and decided to join our staff here at QUESTPress, and we couldn’t be more excited. For those of you who have never read a QUESTPress article, welcome! We’re happy to have you. QUESTPress is QUEST’s student-run publication released digitally once a month. We have a team of eight writers, who you’ll get to know below. 

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Cohort 37 Takes On QUEST Camp

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Rock, paper, scissors. Improv. Boxed lunches. Pilot Products. All of these events over a two-day period can only mean one thing: It’s QUEST Camp season! After two semesters of a completely virtual experience, Cohort 37 was able to enjoy a semi-normal orientation, welcoming them into the world of QUEST. This year, QUEST Camp was held right here on campus, where students got to enjoy some typical camp favorites, while also trying some new activities. I, too, attended camp this semester as a 190H TA and seeing team bonding firsthand made me reminiscent of my own QUEST Camp experience. 

Cohort 37 at QUEST Camp

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QUEST Corporate Hosts Seventh Annual Networking Night

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Just in time for the fall recruiting season, QUEST Corporate delivered on their signature event, the 7th Annual QUEST Networking Event! This year, the event hosted over 25 corporate partners and 100 QUESTees hungry for job and internship opportunities. Students got the chance to meet one-on-one and develop key relationships with potential future employers. Alumni also got the chance to revisit QUEST, representing their current companies to speak with current students about their experiences in their full-time roles. Though the networking night remained virtual this year, QUEST Corporate helped students feel extra connected to these companies through their Alumni Mentorship program last semester and networking night training session this fall.

Some of the amazing companies who participated in the Networking Event!

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QUESTees Gear Up for Exciting Summer Internships

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With final exams and projects beginning to pile up, many QUESTees have begun daydreaming about the upcoming summer. Students make plans to take trips, spend time with family, and develop new skills and hobbies. Additionally, many QUEST students also use summer to gain professional experience in the form of a summer internship. With the large variety of students’ years, majors, and disciplines within the QUEST program, I wanted to learn about what kind of roles student interns would be taking on this summer. I was lucky enough to talk to a few QUESTees to learn more. 

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Knock Knock Give a Sock: QUESTServes Organizes Sock Collection Drive

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QUESTServes partnered with Knock Knock Give a Sock to host a sock donation drive between March 8th and 12th!

QUESTServes, QUEST’s newest student organization, just wrapped up its Knock Knock Give a Sock event. One of QUESTServes’ main initiatives for this year was to begin to partner with organizations outside of the University of Maryland’s campus and give back. They were able to accomplish this goal when QUESTServes student Ryan Goodman (Cohort 36) had the opportunity to meet with the founder of Knock Knock Give a Sock, Adina Lichtman. Adina had started the charity when she was in college, where she physically knocked on students’ dorm room doors and asked for sock donations. She was able to collect thousands of pairs of socks for homeless shelters this way. Though QUESTServes wasn’t able to knock on dorm room doors this semester, they were still able to collect hundreds of pairs of socks for local homeless shelters over the past few weeks! I caught up with Ryan Gerbes (Cohort 33), the QUESTServes lead, to learn more about the project. 

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Keeping up with QUEST: Spring Break Edition

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With exams and assignments piling up as the semester progresses, students welcome the opportunity to escape and relax during spring break. Though this year’s break may not have included the typical tropical getaways of other years, many students still made the best of their time off with new hobbies, events, and activities. I was lucky enough to catch up with a few QUESTees about how they spent their break! 

Some students found unique and creative ways to continue celebrating events. Cohort 36 student Nakisa Rafiee was able to spend time with family to celebrate one of her favorite holidays, Persian New Year! Emma Pastor, a member of Cohort 35, cheered on her sister in a gymnastics meet. Cohort 31 student Christina Giovanazi celebrated her puppy’s 13th birthday over Spring Break… “She may be a teenager now, but she’s still a puppy at heart!”

Nakisa’s Persian New Year set up!

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