Category Archives: Alumni Corner

Her QUEST Since QUEST: Alumna Spotlight on Jenna Beglin

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QUEST has numerous alumni spread across the world, working in extremely interesting fields and industries. One such alum is Jenna Beglin (Cohen), who is the Senior Manager at the Design & Innovation team at Samsung. Jenna was able to provide me with some insight on what she does at Samsung and what has led her there. 

At UMD, Jenna was a member of Cohort 15 of QUEST. Upon graduation from UMD, Jenna started in technology strategy consulting at Accenture, got her MBA from Cornell, worked at a brand and innovation consulting agency called Sterling Brands (an Omnicom agency), and then transitioned to Samsung. 

At Samsung, Jenna’s team has a multitude of responsibilities. Her team develops the pipeline of innovation ideas for Samsung’s services group, usually including software and mobile phone apps. She helps design these concepts, prove the business case, manage the prototype build and test the concepts with consumers. She also conducts other primary consumer research to inform product growth and go-to-market strategy. Currently, Jenna works with Samsung’s software products, like Samsung Health, Samsung Pay, Bixby Voice, and Bixby Vision. She conducts consumer insights for these products to inform product road maps and growth strategies.

When talking about other products she’s worked on, Jenna says, “In my past life at Sterling, I conducted consumer insights work to inform the branding and design of a new “Keurig for Cocktails” called DrinkWorks – a collaboration between Anheuser Busch and Keurig.” She’s also developed a brand architecture to inform innovation and branding for Pepperidge Farm. 

When asked about her time at QUEST, Jenna says it impacted her in many ways. She says, “QUEST taught me how to think in a structured way, how to problem solve, and how to manage clients and stakeholders – important skills in ANY industry.”  Her favorite part of the QUEST experience was how  “QUEST, especially Dr. Suarez’s lectures, made me feel like I could and want to change the world.” Dr. Suarez was the director of QUEST for her first two years in the program. He taught Jenna her capstone class, and she considers him to be one of the most inspirational people she has ever learned from. 

Jenna recently got dual citizenship (US & Spain) and is hoping to move to the EU soon. She also got married three months ago. Congratulations are definitely in order and it’s definitely inspiring to be able to trace a path of a QUEST alum from where many of our students are right now to the juncture of life Jenna’s at currently. Kudos to her for having found her niche in an industry and position that sounds extremely interesting and rewarding. We look forward to staying in touch!

Alumna Eden (Kroeger) Burks becomes an official UMD Hall of Famer

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Cohort 3 alumna Eden (Kroeger) Burks was inducted into the University of Maryland’s Athletics Hall of Fame on November 2, 2018. While in town to celebrate her amazing accomplishment, Eden was able to attend the women’s volleyball team game and meet current players and other newly inducted HOFers.

Mrs. Burks played for the university from 1994-1997 and was able to experience QUEST when it was still a new program around campus. I had the opportunity to chat with her to learn a little bit about her experiences with volleyball, QUEST, and UMD overall.

Eden grew up in Colorado and faced a major decision when it came time to commit to a university. After being recruited by a variety of teams, she fell in love with many aspects of UMD. “Aside from the coaching staff and team here, I immediately knew I wanted to be in the business school and especially took a great interest in QUEST.” She was seeking a challenging educational environment and was naturally drawn to the new interdisciplinary program that, at the time, was offered to only business and engineering students.

One of the biggest takeaways she felt that she gained from her time in QUEST was the value in understanding the different ways people think. “When I graduated, I immediately found the need to understand the minds of people like engineers. Thanks to QUEST, I was exposed to working on a team with them every day.” We never know what type of people we will encounter on a day-to-day basis, so understanding the value of diverse perspectives is crucial.

Eden found that teamwork was relevant in everything she was involved in on campus. Between volleyball and QUEST projects, she constantly was collaborating with those around her to “win.” However, she made it a point to mention a specific aspect of teamwork she valued the most when asked about any advice she would give to current students.

“You’re not going to remember your exact grade, but you’re going to remember the fun times and the craziness around it.” She distinctly remembered making goofy videos for QUEST presentations above everything else, and those college memories are some of her favorites.

Eden truly made the QUEST community proud with such a career milestone! Congratulations again!

 

 

Alumna Spotlight: Rou Tzamaras (Q26)

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With the variety of majors represented in QUEST, it is impressive to see how experiences gained in QUEST provide a clear advantage when it comes to full-time positions across all disciplines. I had the opportunity to speak with recent Clark School graduate Rou Tzamaras of Cohort 26 about her work at Stanley Black & Decker. 

What do you do at Stanley Black & Decker?

My position at Stanley Black & Decker (SBD) is a bit of a mouthful. To start, I am a mechanical engineer in the SBD Leadership program, a rotational program for high potential new hires, and I am currently in my first rotation in the Power Tools and Engineering (PTE) group. Within that group, I am on the Dewalt expansion team on a subteam specializing in lighting. Currently, I am working on designing a heatsink to ensure that our light can handle the thermal load from the LED and a spring that can hold our handle in place regardless of any added battery weight.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

The most rewarding part of my job from an engineering standpoint is knowing that something I spend time doing calculations on and working hard to iterate and prototype will be a functional part of our product and be in every unit that gets produced and sold. My current project volume is about 32,000 units, meaning that every unit will work thermally because of a heatsink I designed. In my mind, I more or less touched every single one, and I find that very fascinating to think about.

From a personal standpoint, SBD has many community service initiatives, and I have been able to join the Community Involvement community within the leadership program. Knowing that my company cares about being present in the community and donating products, money, and time to help people makes me feel good about my choice to work here.

What’s something that surprised you when starting out in the workplace?

The thing that surprised me the most when I started working was how little I actually know about how life works. For real, learn about benefits, investments, the stock market, 401ks, loans, how to buy a car, etc. as much as you can before you find yourself faced with these things. Another thing that surprised me is how lax many of my peers are about saving money. Don’t wait to set up your 401k! And look for companies that do 401k matching. Seriously, you won’t regret it!

What is your favorite memory of QUEST?

My favorite memory of QUEST is most definitely my 490H capstone team and when we went to Missouri with Dr. Armstrong to visit our project site. Dr. Armstrong is one of my favorite professors ever, and my 490H team got along extremely well so it is was fun to go on plant tours of Orbital ATK with them and figure out how to frame our project. A few other great memories are doing the mannequin challenge in Dr. Suarez’s class, Max Samuels playing his Ukulele in 390H, and Dr. Bailey’s bowties.

How has QUEST made a difference in your career as an engineer?

QUEST has made a difference for me by influencing how I approach problem-solving by pushing me to think more deeply about the best solution. My job is design, and design inherently requires problem-solving as ideas are formed into prototypes, prototypes are tested, and we push toward production. I understand the business and marketing side of our products more than the average engineer, and I have a solid background in Lean Six Sigma processes which helps as well. Also, QUEST taught me how to work with diverse teams, which is extremely relevant in the design world.

 

Rou was also recently featured on the Tuesday Takeovers on the QUEST Instagram page (@questumd). QUEST students are truly unparalleled in their unique experiences in the program, pushed to excel beyond expectations, and go on to make waves in the workplace just as Rou is at SBD!

 

QUEST Student and Alumna Team up after Capstone

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Creating a successful startup is no easy task, yet there are several QUEST alumni who have been able to solve problems they are passionate about by creating their own company. A couple examples include Kanchan Singh (Q17), who started a cat café in D.C. called Crumbs and Whiskers, Sahil Rahman (Q17), who co-founded Rasa, an Indian restaurant, and Allan Nicholas (Q20), who created a startup called Sweet Buds that sells scented earring backs that release perfume throughout the day. This article, however, will follow the story of Kajal Pancholi (Q7) and how her aerospace and systems engineering firm, Avatar Technologies, grew and eventually came back to QUEST.

Kajal Pancholi has stayed connected with QUEST even after her graduation. She had sponsored several QUEST Capstone projects through her previous employer, Millennium Engineering and Integration Company, but this time she decided to reach out to partner with QUEST so a team of 490H students could help Avatar Technologies become an ISO 9001 registered company. Kajal said she needed “bright, hardworking, and innovative individuals to augment [her] team and develop tailored quality management tools & techniques for the company’s operations,” and she believed it would be a perfect project for QUEST. Students Dennis Chen, Taylor Joyce, Julia Roh, and Devin Rosen from cohort 27 came together to implement an ISO 9001-compliant Quality Management System so that Avatar Technologies could gain a competitive advantage in its field.

One student on the team, Devin Rosen, really enjoyed working with Avatar Technologies during his time in 490H and consequently returned to Avatar for a summer internship. Devin learned many aspects of technology entrepreneurship and enjoyed his time learning about Avatar with his team and wanted to be able to continue helping Kajal make an impact by getting Avatar Technologies an ISO-9001 certificate. Devin said that there were several differences between working with his team and working with Kajal over the summer, and mentioned that “the biggest difference was going from a group project to an individual endeavor [he] could turn into [his] own.” He also said that he had to absorb a lot more information about the company and about ISO-9001 since his teammates weren’t there to bounce ideas off of over the summer, but that Kajal was a great help in guiding him and teaching him the ins and outs of the Avatar business.

Kajal and Devin represented Avatar Technologies at the QUEST Networking Event in September

Being a math major, Devin mentioned that he was able to utilize his critical thinking and problem solving skills when assessing Avatar’s regular business operations in order to optimize process interactions and design the Quality Management System itself. He wants to tell QUEST students that regardless of the project or the major, people will be appreciative of hard work. He mentioned, “QUEST students make significant impacts” in 490H, and that the class itself encourages students to ask as many questions as possible in order to filter ideas and uncover effective solutions. He also wants to emphasize that students are capable of learning more than they think. After being assigned to his 490H project, Devin said he “learned a lot about ISO-9001 quality management system and that it was nice to prove to [himself] that [he] can jump into something completely foreign, learn all about it, and come up with impactful recommendations.”

Kajal was very appreciative of the work that the team did during 490H and the work Devin did during his time at Avatar since now the quality management system is in place and that all there is left is to call an auditor to get Avatar Technologies certified. She said that there are many benefits working for a smaller scale company for the 490H project since the work students do create a very meaningful impact on a large scale. She also mentioned that “Working with the QUEST students and Devin was both professionally and personally rewarding,” since the project brought back memories of Kajal’s own QUEST experiences and she was able to “use that QUEST knowledge and lessons to be a better-engaged and more resourceful project champion for the student team.”

 

 

Alumna Spotlight: Neha Kundagrami (Q24)

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The transition from a college student to a full-time position is tumultuous, but it is rewarding to see years of education come to fruition in the workplace. Within QUEST, there is an extensive emphasis on application over rote book learning, which is clear in the successes of countless QUEST alumni. I recently spoke with Neha Kundagrami of Cohort 24 (a 2017 graduate) about her position at Deloitte and how QUEST has helped her in her career.

What exactly do you do for Deloitte?

I’m a business technology analyst, which means that I provide consulting services to technology-focused and technology-centric engagements or projects.  

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

When the team is able to get together and finally resolve a problem or a question that the client has been having for years, it’s a very rewarding experience.

How did QUEST help you find success in the workplace?

Consulting is a very QUEST-centric career. All the things I learned in my 490H project – staying in scope, creating timelines, delivery of final deliverables, and so on – are all things I use on a daily basis in my job as a consultant. 

Any advice for current QUEST students?

Network! QUEST honestly has almost any resource you could ever need, and you have the QUEST directory, which gives you contact information for any alum you could ever want to talk to! Reach out to the alum who work in fields you’re interested in for a chat – that real-world experience and mentorship is probably the best gift QUEST has ever given me. 

Neha was also featured on the Tuesday Takeovers on the QUEST Instagram page. QUEST’s alumni network is both vastly useful and easily accessible. As Neha discussed, QUEST is chock full of all necessary resources for your career, so make sure to take advantage of them as soon as possible!

The Dynamic of a Duo: Alums Grace Cha & Jason Ho

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By: Jacob Wilkowsky (Cohort 19 alumnus)

For this edition of Alumni Spotlight, we highlight Grace Cha (Q24) and Jason Ho (Q24). Grace is a
Business Technology Analyst at Deloitte, and Jason is a Technology Analyst at Accenture, both in the
Washington D.C. metro area. Both Grace and Jason majored in Information Systems, graduated in 2017, and both are from Maryland. However, most importantly to the author, both were members of QUESTPress. By the end of their time as QUESTPress undergrads, Grace and Jason were Double Trouble, Thunder and Lightning,
Daft Punk, Peanut Butter & Jelly.

However, not only were Grace and Jason collaborative, they were super effective leaders—eventually assuming outsized roles as team matriarch and webmaster. In this Alumni Spotlight, I hope to sit down with Grace and Jason and identify what led to them being such a productive pair. I also want to ask them about their transition to industry and the team dynamics they now experience in their respective jobs. Without further ado, let’s dive in and explore the dynamic of a duo.

Can you list the top factors for any successful duo?

Grace

For me, humor is key— throwing jokes around and keeping things lighthearted. I work well with people
who make me feel comfortable – and if we can make each other laugh at the end of the day, it helps in
taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture in stressful situations.

Jason

A good duo requires empathy— being able to share each other’s viewpoint and synching up your
thoughts. When you’re acting as a duo, you’re acting as a more diverse individual.

Have you guys developed similar relationships in industry yet? If so, how did they develop?

Grace

In the consulting industry, you almost always work as part of a larger team. When I started at Deloitte, I
joined my team along with another new hire. My co-worker and I have a great dynamic, but we
definitely went through some “storming” before we got to establish that relationship. We worked on
nearly everything together in situations involving a lot of ambiguity, and as much as we got along as
people, we definitely argued over differences in opinions on how to approach solving complex
problems. However, through that storming, we got to learn and understand how we work as individuals
and our different strengths and weaknesses. Today, although we share many responsibilities, we
understand how to divide those responsibilities in a way that works best for the both of us.

Jason

On my project, I work with a lot of people at my level doing cross-functional work. At first, developing that
personal rapport and talking about life outside of work was important for me. Building trust and getting to
the point where you know you have each other’s back is critical.

Were there any boundaries created for you guys in terms of roles as a duo? If so, how were those
established?

Grace

By the time senior year came around, we were both really involved in QUEST. I think the beauty of
QUESTPress is that there weren’t any boundaries in terms of what type of articles to pursue or avenues
to improve QUESTPress. No one would shoot each other’s ideas down. For me and Jason, I know Jason
wanted to learn technical skills, so he worked on the website. I was interested in how to engage QUEST
as a community, so I started writing silly BuzzFeed-style articles. We pursued paths that catered to our
interests and played to our strengths and that created a good dynamic between the two us!

Jason

I wanted to facilitate the technical side of QUESTPress and make everything look nice, which is how I
carved out my role. We both bonded under Bobby Fitzgerald’s leadership as juniors and decided what
our roles were then. Earlier, when I joined as a sophomore, it was a situation where I wanted to become
as engaged as possible in the QUEST community. So I became involved in QUESTPress and QUEST
Recruiting without a seriously defined role.

In your current roles, are there any boundaries created for your role on your teams? If so, how were those established?

Grace

When you’re new to the team, you feel the boundary of being the “new guy.” You have to find out what
your role will be on the team and that means testing those initial boundaries and advocating for the
work that you want to know.

Jason

On my team, it was an interesting dynamic and harder for me to figure out at the beginning. My boss at
the time didn’t encourage as intimate a personal environment as I’m typically comfortable with.
However, when we broke into the personal sphere as a team, I really became more comfortable. What
helped establish a more personal environment was when we began to discuss our “highs and lows” as a
team. Talking about personal lives helped our team coalesce.

As a QUESTPress duo, what was your direction? How was it established?

Grace

Honestly, I joined QUEST because QUEST alum Jaimie Hsu recommended applying. It was intimidating as
a freshman because it was my first time going through a formal interview process and once I was
admitted, I didn’t know how I would measure up to all these overachievers. I thought, “How do I get
involved?” and I wanted to pick something that was fun. QUEST alum Bobby Fitzgerald lived on my floor
sophomore year and suggested QUESTPress. And the rest is history!

Jason

When I started in QUEST, I was a hungry individual and wanted to pursue as many opportunities to learn
as possible. I felt this pressure that if I didn’t give 100%, I’d be missing out. That sense of opportunity
drove me and the direction was less important. Being at QUESTCamp and hearing from leaders about
each organization helped funnel me to QUESTPress and QUEST Recruiting. I joined QUESTPress because
of the great vibe I got. Everyone was very chill. I joined QUEST Recruiting because I wanted to learn how
to speak with people, table, and persuade.

Similarly, how is your direction on your teams established in industry?

Grace

My team and role is for the most part self-driven. We might have some general guidance, but my
manager is generally hands-off. For me, I have trouble dealing with ambiguity, but that challenge has
placed me in a stretch role where I bring recommendations and ideas to the team. For instance, my
team creates data dashboards for our client, and I realized we weren’t tracking feature requests or issues
in a central place. I, then, implemented an agile approach that I learned in QUEST, and now serve
somewhat as a “scrum master” for each of our dashboard sprints. Because my team was open to these
suggestions, I was able to contribute a methodology that has benefited the organization of our team.

Jason

My experience is very similar to Grace’s. A lot of managers are hands-off and we are just put in a general
workflow. There was a period when I was twiddling my thumbs trying to figure out my place at the
beginning. For direction in my role, I keep sticky notes everywhere of all the issues and things that I can
improve. This gives me direction every day. My sticky notes create a trail of breadcrumbs for whenever I
complete a task and have bandwidth to pick something else up.

Any last words on the key for successful teamwork?

Grace

Always find a person on your team who you have a good working relationship with that will vouch for you. If something goes down, you want to have someone who will advocate for your work.

Jason

It is hard to build a relationship just based solely on work. Communicate with other and build relationships that help you learn and establish trust within your organization.

Thank you so much to Grace and Jason for taking the time to speak with me. I first met this
dynamic duo four years ago when they were sophomores, and it is incredible the progress they’ve made
in their careers since. They touched on quite a few concepts in their responses, including the value of
trust, communication, drive, and role-development to name a few. Clearly, these are concepts they
explored as undergrads in QUEST. I can’t wait to see what you both accomplished together in the next
four years. The QUEST never ends!

Jason and other QUEST friends with Grace jumping into the picture 🙂

The Beauty of Open Barre and Following Your Passions

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Lauren Filocco (Q17) did not always see herself operating a Barre Studio out of College Park, MD. If you had asked her about her plans for the near future a couple years earlier, she might have expressed interest in moving up the pipeline at McCormick and continuing down the path of a procurement specialist. That might have been the decision one would have expected her to make, but all it took was a Groupon for a barre class to change her entire perspective on life, career goals, and happiness.

Before barre and McCormick, Lauren was working operations at Amazon in Middletown, DE immediately after graduation. It was not the most glamorous role, but she learned a lot and was able to leverage her QUEST connections and secure a role at McCormick a couple years later.

At McCormick, she worked primarily on the negotiation side and handled procurement discussions with different suppliers. Looking back on her time there she laughs, considering the fact that her mother always said her penchant for arguing made her a perfect fit for the role.

While she was working at McCormick, she decided to buy a Groupon for a barre class with her mother. Before she knew it, she was spending all of her time after work at the studio and jumped on the opportunity to take other classes after the Groupon ended. As she began to spend more and more time at barre, it slowly dawned on her that even though she loved McCormick, barre was something that could truly fulfill her passions.

She discussed the idea of opening a barre studio with her fiancée and worked on a business plan with studio owners that she had come to know during her many classes. Her colleagues at McCormick were incredibly supportive during the entire process, allowing her to remain on the staff as a contractor during the period of turbulence brought about by the opening of her studio.

In February 2017, the studio finally opened, and she had a new challenge that was equal parts frightening and exciting. When asked about her biggest takeaway from her journey, she said, “I thrive on the little successes. When a client tells me that their son hugged them and felt how hard their stomach was I know it’s because they’ve been taking my classes seriously, and I know that no matter how small I’m contributing to making the world better and making people feel better about themselves.”

Last month, Lauren hosted an open barre session for the QUEST community that was very well received. A few choice quotes are listed below:

“I liked the studio a lot. It had a welcoming, homey vibe. Also, my thighs burned like they’ve never burned before.” – Alex Malek (Q25)

“I love group fitness classes and thought it would be a fun way to interact with the QUEST community outside of the usual classroom setting.” – Kayla Sukri (Q25)

“The instructor always had a smile on her face! Even when we were doing some really demanding routines she was super bright and full of energy. It helped me get through with a smile on my face by the end.” – Edward Morozov (Q25)

It’s clear that Lauren has found her passion and is quickly impacting her community in the best way possible. Her advice to those still figuring things out is to think about what you enjoy outside of work. If there’s a way to turn it into a career, then you should at least consider. Don’t restrict yourself from pursuing your passions without thinking about it first!

A Sneak Preview of Alumnus Yash Mehta’s New Podcast!

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Yash Mehta (Q22) began his own podcast to commemorate the beginning of 2018. While it’s still at its infancy, Yash has sights on expanding the podcast to feature even more “influencers, as the podcast name, The Great Influencers, suggests. At the current moment, there are two podcasts on the website highlighting Malala Yousafzai and Thurgood Marshall, implying that the diversity in influencers is not limited to prominent historical figures. I recently got to sit down with Yash to get his thoughts on the podcast and his vision moving forward.

What prompted you to start the podcast?

I think it was a host of internal and external factors. From the internal perspective, I’ve always really enjoyed creative writing and public speaking so this was a great way to practice those skills. I’ve also become an avid listener of other podcasts over the last year so this was a neat challenge/bucket list item for me to tackle. On the external side, I think we could all use some inspiration from time to time so I wanted to create something that helped busy professionals like those in QUEST to do something fun, learn something, and feel energized to improve their lives all at the same time. I think we’re in a particularly interesting political climate and regardless of your beliefs, I try to shape each episode so that people realize people just like them influenced our world.

I notice you featured both historical and current “influencers” on your podcast – do you have intentions on sticking with a theme regarding that or just whoever is making an influence?

The way I choose influencers is relatively unstructured – a lot of it is me coming across stories of people that make me go, “Wow, I want to know more.” I’m trying to make a conscious decision to showcase influencers from a variety of backgrounds (civil activism, science, arts, etc.) so that every person listening can see a bit of themselves in the influencers. My other criteria is choosing great influencers whose stories haven’t been widely told – yes, MLK was absolutely a great influencer, but so was Thurgood Marshall, and I’ve heard Marshall’s story far fewer times so I decided to tell his story instead.

In the spirit of continuous improvement, Yash always loves to get any feedback, so if anyone wants to provide feedback, please share it with him at MehtaJYash@Gmail.com!

Rasa: Alumnus Sahil Rahman’s Venture Into Indian Cuisine

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By: Jacob Wilkowsky (Cohort 17)

Thanking Khawaja as I exited his Toyota Corolla, my first steps in the Navy Yard (DC) provided a much-needed opportunity to stretch. The trip from New York was uneventful, and surveying the sprawling lawn and views of the Anacostia river, I was glad I made the voyage. Although six minutes early, I decided to enter the large, bright blue door to Rasa. There I found Sahil Rahman, co-Founder of Rasa, member of QUEST Cohort 17, and co-TA of BMGT190H for my cohort (19), busily organizing his staff and rearranging the restaurant for lunch service.

Sahil offered a warm welcome and seating as I waited for the restaurant to begin service. I dropped my belongings off in a nook and surveyed the menu. I chose as my main a pre-made bowl, ‘Aloo Need is Love’, composed of sweet potato tikki, coconut ginger sauce, supergrains, charred eggplant, picked radish, and masala beets. To drink, a mango lassi. Both were delicious, quickly prepared, and reasonably priced. Although I hoped to savor the meal and take copious notes of each bite for my future audience… it didn’t work out – a testament to Rasa’s supreme quality and my lack of self-control.

Luckily for me, a top critic in The District and a bevy of other publications have since extensively covered Rasa, including the Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema, The Washington City Paper, EATER, and On Tap Magazine. These articles aptly describe Rasa’s interior, which “deftly fuses whimsy with comfort,” the bond of Sahil and his Partner Rahul Vinod, who know each other since childhood, and their journey to the kitchen, starting in the kitchens of their fathers’ restaurants. I can attest to the rich experience chronicled by these critics, and I can’t wait to visit again soon.

Soon-to-be Alumni Feature: Julia Lomakina and Rohan Bajaj

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As the semester approaches the stage when students are completing projects and beginning to start studying for finals, for many, it’s a time when they are thinking about the soon-approaching winter break. While some people will be using this as a time to rest up for the upcoming spring semester, some students will be celebrating an important milestone: graduation.

Recently, I was able to catch up with two Q26 students/soon-to-be-alumni, Julia Lomakina and Rohan Bajaj. Both students are graduating a semester early compared to their peers and also have exciting plans in store for after they graduate next month.

 

Rohan Bajaj (Q26)

Julia Lomakina (Q26)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s something that you cherish from your time at UMD?

Julia:

I cherish all of the wonderful humans I have met during my time at UMD. From rampaging around College Park bars with friends to pulling all nighters for projects, I’ve loved every moment of it. This school also gives you incredible opportunities whether educational, career, or social. I️ am so happy I️ decided to come to UMD – no regrets!

Rohan:

I cherish the people I met here. Fellow students, faculty, and friends have all had a great influence on my interests and goals. I have gotten the opportunity to teach, experiment majors, and work professionally all because of the people that surrounded me.

 

Favorite QUEST memory?

Julia:

1) Getting run over at QUEST camp within the first 30 minutes during an ice breaker resulting in a nice head gash. Haha!

2) I got to ride around in a tractor and meet the Cataraptasaurus during a client visit to a Caterpillar Dealer.

3) A few QUESTees went to play laser tag and my greatest mistake was wearing a grey shirt because that was the most intense workout I had all semester.

Rohan:

My favorite QUEST memory was just one month ago, when we went to our BMGT490H client Caterpillar’s Equipment Sale and Expo at their Alban CAT dealership. From an academic perspective, it was great to personally communicate with clients and observe the business opportunity real-time. From a fun perspective, we were treated to award-winning Chaps Pit Beef, free ice cream, and, best of all, got to drive tractors. It was a blast.

 

What are you plans after graduation?

Julia:

First, I will be traveling after graduation. I will spend a few weeks in Texas and Florida around the holidays. Then, I will travel to India and backpack around Southeast Asia for a few months. After scampering around the world, I am buying a few rain jackets and will work at Microsoft as a Program Manager in Seattle, Washington.

Rohan:

I plan to take a long break and start working at least past June. My plans are very much in the air, but I will try to volunteer. I am thinking of volunteering as a part of Habitat for Humanity or the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster for the many recent natural disasters. If that falls through, I plan on travelling as much as I can.

 

Any other parting words you want to give to your peers?

Julia:

Things I wish I told myself as a freshman: First, do random stuff on campus and around the area. Sounds interesting? Go. Don’t have a friend to go with? Still go. People are friendlier than you think. Second, use all of your resources/network (like the QUEST directory). Don’t be afraid to contact random people and ask them for advice. Third, exams are easier when you pay attention in class.

To the QUEST Community: I am extremely lucky to have you guys. Thank you to the Quality Guild who make it all happen and the students who make the program what it is. I learned and laughed so much with all of you. You are all so exceptional and I am proud to be a part of QUEST. I thank you for your part in my journey.

Final Farewell: I genuinely hope our paths cross again. Keep in touch!

Rohan:

People often get stuck and fixated on wanting and “achieving” more. Don’t try to say yes to everything, but instead say yes to things that make sense for you. Take a step back, put things in perspective, and live your best life!

 

Congratulations to all of our seniors graduating this December:

  • Rohan Bajaj (Q26)
  • Angelina Bingei (Q25)
  • Pete Dziki (Q25)
  • Eric Huang (Q23)
  • Julia Lomakina (Q26)
  • Max Samuels (Q26)
  • Janae Savoy (Q23)
  • Derien Scott (Q24)
  • Gabe Vostal (Q24)

On behalf of the QUEST student and faculty community, we’ll all genuinely miss your presence on campus; we hope that you’ll be able to visit sometime soon, and wish you the best of luck with your careers and post-UMD life!