TJ Falohun, Cohort 20, is an innovator, entrepreneur, and a well-rounded QUEST alumnus. He started his undergraduate career at UMD as a bioengineering major, with a strong interest in biomaterials and regenerative medicine.
TJ Falohun representing Olera at a conference
Nahom Tekle from Cohort 24 graduated from the Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2016 – but his impact is still here! One of his major accomplishments as an undergraduate student at Smith was participating in the Smith Business Academy (SBA), and he has come full circle, working to expand SBA to other schools today.
The Smith Business Academy is a student-run program for minority men within the business school. Based on national standards, minority men have a historically lower graduation rate, and SBA wants to overcome this. By following their founding intention – “Building men with distinction” – SBA focuses on creating a supportive community where personal and professional development is promoted.
Tekle speaking at a recent Smith Business Academy event
The QUEST Program has many benefits: learning opportunities, strong alumni network, and, surprisingly, romance! In fact, there are multiple QUEST alumni couples, some who even started to date during the program. We asked some of these couples to share their experiences in diving in and taking a QUEST for life.
The semester has started and for the second time, QUEST is offering a very exciting elective course: Product Management (BMGT438N)! This class is filled with twenty QUEST students, a lovely TA, an amazing professor, and many guest speakers that are excited to help the class learn about Product Management.
This semester, the course has a new professor, Jessica Alves De Sa, a Product Manager at Shopify and QUEST alumna from Cohort 16! She has experience in consulting and product management and is excited to share her knowledge with the class.
Joshua Cocker, recently named a Keystone Professor at the University of Maryland, came from QUEST roots. QUESTPress writer Abby Wexler was able to chat with him about his journey from QUEST student to professor at the University of Maryland.
Jeff Lue (Cohort 16) was preparing for a meeting with his boss a few months ago when suddenly it dawned upon him – he did this exact project in college. After pulling out his laptop and meticulously searching through old notes, he finds his QUEST presentation! During the meeting with his boss, the two laugh about how he ended up living one of his college dreams.
As a tour guide here at the University of Maryland, I always highlight the QUEST program. One of the first things people always ask is my favorite part about the QUEST program. My response never changes- the people that you meet in QUEST are not only driven, but they are also great people that will change the world. A QUEST alumnus that embodies this perfectly is Blake Bonita.
Bonita (third from left) with his 490H team at their QUEST Conference
Bonita was a member of Cohort 21 and graduated in 2016 with a degree in Accounting and Finance. Following graduation, he has traveled all around the world and worked at the White House, Deloitte Consulting, Marine Corps, and LinkedIn. Additionally, this fall, he will be pursuing an MBA at the Wharton School of Business. While he has been very successful in all his endeavors, the best part about him is his humility. It was clear from our interview that he has always stayed grounded and true to himself throughout all these experiences.
I was able to speak with Bonita about his experiences at Deloitte and the Marine Corps. Originally, he joined Deloitte because consulting offered diversity, working with a breadth of clients across industries. Each project Bonita worked on offered the ability to meet new people, travel the world, and tackle various issues. His experiences at Deloitte allowed him to develop a great skill set for identifying problems and developing solutions. Bonita mentioned that in this role, he used many of the skills learned in QUEST. Specifically, he said, “The ability to understand a problem, ask the right questions, think systematically, use data, propose solutions, etc. will always be useful, at work and in your everyday life. Long live QUEST.”
After leaving Deloitte, Bonita entered the Marines as an Infantry Officer and Rifle Platoon Commander out of a sense of service while also seeking a challenge. A surprising amount of what he learned in the classroom and in a professional setting applied while taking care of his Marines such as dealing with uncertainty. One lesson that he took away from the experience was summed up by the quote, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” He told me to always plan for everything, but if or when nothing goes to plan, the planning you did will prepare you best for whatever you encounter.
Bonita during his time in the Marines
At the end of our interview, he advised current QUEST students, “Take every experience as just that: an experience. There are good experiences and bad experiences, but every experience teaches you something. Certainly, cherish the good and move on from the bad, but don’t forget to reflect, understand, and learn from every experience. Having a positive and resolute attitude goes a long way towards happiness and success.”
One of QUEST’s most valued benefits is our strong network of alumni, who continuously gives back to the program long after they’ve graduated. One way in which alumni pass on their knowledge and skills to current students is by becoming project champions. Each project champion acts as the main point of contact between their company and a QUEST team throughout a capstone project, meeting weekly with the students and providing valuable support. I interviewed two QUEST alumni who have served as project champions to hear about their experiences and why they chose to give back.
Having just admitted Cohorts 39 and 40, it’s fitting to reflect on how QUEST has evolved over the years. I was able to talk to four different alumni, ranging from Cohort 2 to Cohort 29 about their experiences in the QUEST program. It was evident that while specific programming and courses may have changed, the same impact remains.
Vikas Majahan from Cohort 2 was a student in QUEST during the period it was under the IBM grant and was called IBM-TQ. For those unaware, the QUEST program was formed in 1992, with a 1-million dollar grant from IBM as a part of their Total Quality Management (TQM) initiative. Majahan entered the program as an engineering major, and QUEST helped him realize that while his skillset was analytical, he could also use those skills in accounting/business. Following his graduation, he began working as the Assistant Director of IT for the Smith School of Business. After leaving this role, he gained experience in tech and cybersecurity-focused roles at companies such as Microstrategy, PwC, AARP, and a cybersecurity consulting company called Likeminds Consulting. Majahan began working for the American Red Cross in 2015 and is currently the Chief Information Security Officer.
Vikas Majahan (Cohort 2)
Since its beginning in 1992, the QUEST Honors Program has taken in 38 cohorts of students, providing tangible professional skills, friendships, and memories to last a lifetime. QUEST students have worked with 117 unique project sponsors on 276 different projects, using problem-solving skills to develop real-world solutions to complex challenges. This year, QUEST is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and there will be multiple ways to get involved in the celebration!