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!
Category Archives: Alumni Corner
QUEST Alumni Undergo Impressive Career Transitions
During your college and early professional years, it’s common to feel that the career decisions made now are indefinite and will affect you in the years to come. While it’s important to prepare yourself to secure post-graduation plans that align with your goals, QUEST alumni themselves show that where you begin your career journey is not the end all be all. I was able to speak with 3 successful alumnae who have undergone career changes recently in order to learn from their journeys.
Mary Smith (Cohort 29)
The first alumna I had the pleasure of speaking with was Mary Smith, a member of Cohort 29 who graduated in Spring 2020 with a Mechanical Engineering degree. While in college, Smith got experience working in industry by interning at Oceaneering for two summers and a winter term. During her first summer with Oceaneering, her role was within Quality Engineering, but she completed her second internship within Mechanical Engineering. When considering post-graduation plans, Smith said that she knew that she “already had an established role at Oceaneering that she could jump back into” and that it would be an awesome first job. Thus, she accepted a full-time position and started as a Mechanical Engineer in July 2020. Unexpectedly, about a year after starting at Oceaneering, Smith’s engineering teacher from her high school approached her about an open teaching position. Smith explained that it was a very tough decision to take the teaching position because she “knew it was a dream job but didn’t want to toss aside a career in industry so early.” One of the deciding factors that went into her decision was that she knew that the school, Archbishop Spalding High School, was a great place to teach and she wasn’t sure if this opportunity would arise again.
Cohort 28 Alumnus Derek Xiao Impresses Viewers on Big Brother
Big Brother is watching you… or at least this was true for QUEST alum Derek Xiao this past summer during his experience on the national television show on CBS, Big Brother. Big Brother is a televised competition and reality television show based off of the concept in George Orwell’s novel, 1984, and the concept of “Big Brother.” Your average person is chosen to live in a house for a summer and participate in a variety of competitions to win power and advantages throughout the game, going through possible elimination as the show goes on. The house guests are constantly watched by “Big Brother” and under the decisions of the voice. There is a grand prize of $500,000 for the winner of the season. The game challenges people not only physically, but social skills are essential to winning the game.
Derek Xiao (Cohort 28)
Keeping the QUEST Traditions Alive
Just like any other family, the QUEST program has several traditions that are passed down from generation to generation (or in our case, from cohort to cohort). Although our traditions may not include baking, fishing, or twelve grapes, they do include every single staff member and student who comes into QUEST.
Mark Nathanson (Cohort 20)’s 190H Team- QUESTimus Prime
Students and Alumni Reunite at the QUEST Homecoming Tailgate
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!
Considering a PhD? Chat with these QUEST Alumni!
Questioning whether to seek a postgraduate degree is common amongst graduating college students, but the decision is complex, involving a multitude of elements. I interviewed three QUEST alumni currently pursuing doctoral degrees to hear about their experiences, understand their perspectives, and listen to their advice about why graduate school was the right choice for them.
Haroula Tzamaras (Q26)
When it came to deciding whether graduate school was the right choice, the alumni I interviewed had various priorities to consider. Haroula Tzamaras, a member of Cohort 26, got her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering but after working as a product design engineer in the industry, decided that she was more interested in “how the humans were interacting with the products than the actual mechanical parts.” She desired a graduate program with looser course requirements so she could explore her interest in design while avoiding strictly technical engineering classes. This led to her attending Penn State for her degree after discovering their lab topics best suited her interests.
Laura Zheng, a member of Cohort 29, is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in computer science at the University of Maryland. Zheng enjoyed the workflow of research-based jobs more than traditional computer science roles such as becoming a software engineer. Both Zheng and Tzamaras considered how much their respective universities would fund them, ultimately opting for programs that offered them their degree fully funded.
Cohort 1 Alumna Missy Grace Uses Her Resilience to Coach Cancer Survivors
For Missy Grace, a QUEST alumna and member of Cohort 1, the transition from working in corporate to working in coaching just seemed like the right next step. A cancer survivor herself, she now partners with the company One Village and offers Vigeo Coaching services for cancer survivors.
Alumna Missy Grace
Alumni Corner: Catching up with Entrepreneur Shirley Qin (Cohort 18)
I was lucky enough to speak with QUEST alumna Shirley Qin from Cohort 18, who is now the Founder of 3 different startups: Initial Partners, Think Tools for Children International, and Cydeas. While the pandemic has posed some challenges, she has utilized her entrepreneurial mindset to adapt.
Shirley Qin
QUEST Corporate Initiates New Mentorship Program
One of the best aspects of the QUEST community is the willingness of our 1,400+ alumni to give back and help current students as they explore different career paths. Instead of having students independently search for mentors by combing through the QUEST Directory, QUEST Corporate launched a new mentorship program this semester for students to learn one-on-one from QUEST alumni.
43 current students participated in this amazing new mentorship program. Based on students’ responses to a questionnaire – and with the help of Assistant Director Jess Roffe – relevant alumni mentors were hand-picked for each of the students. The program consisted of three meetings: an informal get-to-know-you, a resume review and mock interview, and a session on exit opportunities and how to move relationships forward. I reached out to a few QUESTees to learn more about how their interactions with their mentors went! Continue reading
Alumna Entrepreneur Lauren Filocco Navigates Ambiguity During the Pandemic
When we were introduced to our “new normal” a year ago, Lauren Filocco, Cohort 17 alumna and owner of OpenBarre Studios in College Park, adjusted her business and led her team as all QUESTees are taught to do: by embracing ambiguity.
Before OpenBarre’s last in-person class on March 16, 2020, Lauren and her team realized they needed to prepare for the pandemic. They spent three weeks prior to the national shutdown filming and editing classes, which allowed them to launch their online classes just 36 hours after closing their studio doors. After gauging clients’ interest in online classes, Lauren’s team determined the features and pricing for their online platform. The pandemic was the precipice for the launch of this year-in-the-making project.
