Earlier this month, the QUEST community celebrated the culmination of nine semester-long capstone projects with Cohort 40’s QUEST Conference at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center. Attendees enjoyed poster presentations, snacks, and even a dessert intermission! During the event, I had the chance to talk to some of the teams about their project.
Although October has just passed, it seems the memories of this Halloween season will stay in the hearts and minds of many of our QUESTees.
QUEST students couldn’t wait for the annual QUEST Homecoming Tailgate which was hosted on October 19th this year. Students, faculty, staff and alumni of the program all gathered in Lot L for a great time, celebrating and cheering on Maryland Football!
Continue readingQUEST Corporate hosted the 10th Annual Networking Event on September 30th, just in time for peak recruiting season when students are the most eager to make impactful professional connections.
Students making connections at QUEST’s 10th Annual Networking Event
Ever since I officially “graduated” from QUEST after completing my capstone in spring of my junior year at UMD, I had felt a bit disconnected from the program I love so much. Suddenly, I had become an alumni of the program! I had less opportunities to connect with my fellow program members than I had in the past. In fact, it felt like I was closing one of my favorite chapters of my college experience. With these feelings looming over me, I was ecstatic when I found out about the QUEST Summer Happy Hour being hosted in D.C. this past July.
QUEST Community in Washington, D.C.
This month, I had the honor of interviewing some of our incredible students in Cohort 39! Dressed in their finest attire and equipped with their brightest smiles at the QUEST Conference on May 6th, Cohort 39 did an incredible job on their capstone projects.
Cohort 39 at the QUEST Conference.
College is full of exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and the chance to explore another country during study abroad is certainly one of the most unique and thrilling. It’s a great chance to understand a new culture from both an educational and experiential perspective. QUEST currently has 10 students studying abroad across the globe from Europe to Australia. I spoke with two QUESTees to hear about everything from their study abroad journey so far.
Daniel Lamb is a computer engineering major from Cohort 40 who is currently studying in Madrid, Spain. He was inspired to study in Madrid because he wanted to explore a new country, meet international students, and try as many new things as possible! His favorite experience so far has been his solo travel to Valencia where he was able to participate in a festival called Las Falleras. He got to dance, eat, and build human towers with locals around a massive bonfire. His favorite class abroad has been his Spanish class, which is taught fully in Spanish by a professor who loves to poke fun and have a good time with his students. Lamb advises future QUEST students looking to study abroad to try as many new things as they can and not to worry about feeling out of place as that feeling is part of the gateway to new experiences.
Lamb (Cohort 40) parasailing in Spain
Maya Pollack is a computer science major from Cohort 40 studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. Pollack grew up loving to travel and knew she wanted to take advantage of studying abroad in college. Over the last two months in Australia, she has felt “genuinely immersed in the culture of this beautiful country,” and it has enhanced her “academic journey with invaluable insights and personal growth.” Her favorite class so far has been an environmental science lab where they go on weekly outdoor field trips related to the content they learn in class. Her favorite experience was when she visited Cairns, Queensland and went skydiving! Pollack wants future QUESTees to take the opportunity to study abroad if they can. She finds that “traveling and seeing the world is such an important part of life, pushing you to become more worldly and open-minded.” She advises coming in with the mindset of “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable” to maximize the exciting elements of studying abroad.
Pollack (Cohort 40) skydiving in Cairns, New Zealand
Cohort 42 at QUEST Camp
Earlier this semester, we swore in our newest members of QUEST: Cohort 42! Let’s take a look back at their QUEST Camp/Orientation. Continue reading
Over winter break, 29 students across the QUEST program immersed themselves in the cultures and industries of two East Asian countries through the study abroad winter elective.
This year, the program took them to tour the cities of Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea with an overall theme of looking at innovation and automation and how they have been incorporated into the culture and society of the two cities. Over the ten days, the class allowed students to dive into the cultures of these cities, as well as hear from representatives of numerous companies.
Watching a matcha tea ceremony
The class visited larger well-known corporations, like Nissan and Samsung, as well as some start-up companies across multiple industries.
The class at their site visit to SBS
I was able to talk to Shareen Ahmad, an Operations Management and Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management major from Cohort 41, who went on the trip. Her favorite site visit was to Astroscale, a space debris removal company. She found it inspiring to see their work towards sustainability. “It had a lot of legal, financial, and social considerations, and I loved their passion for taking on such a challenge,” she shared. Students even got to simulate the process of how Astroscale works to remove space debris.
Not only were the QUEST students learning about how business and industries worked, but they also got to see firsthand the social and cultural impacts. Students were surprised to see the difference in culture compared to the US. As Ahmad put it, “There was a big focus on social harmony and collectivism.”
Overall, many students loved being able to interact with the local cultures, seeing cafes, shopping districts, food markets, and lots of entertainment! With the destination of the winter course changing each year, there is always more for future QUESTees to experience abroad. For more photos from the trip, click here.
Although finals season is in full swing, there is something we can all look forward to: Winter Break. Let’s see what some of our QUESTees will be up to this break.