Category Archives: Student Stories

Cohort 37’s Morelle Ndileba Turns Her Passion for Hairbraiding Into a Successful Business

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Ever love a hobby so much that you turn it into an occupation? Well, Morelle Ndileba did just that with her start-up hairstyling business RelleStylz. Morelle is a QUEST student from Cohort 37, double majoring in Information Systems and Operations Management and Business Analytics. On campus, she is also in the Academic Achievements Program (AAP), where she is an ambassador for incoming freshmen, and a resident assistant at the South Campus Commons. She especially loves working as an RA when planning floor events for her residents to relax and meet one another. Given her academic involvements, one might wonder how Morelle also finds the time to single-handedly run a successful hairstyling business, RelleStylz.

Morelle Ndileba (Cohort 37)

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Seattle to San Antonio: QUEST Students Recap their Summers

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With QUEST being filled with such ambitious students, it’s no surprise to hear about the impressive and exciting summers its students have! Not only do students gain a variety of internship, research, or work experience, they also make sure to have fun. 

Michelle Lui (Cohort 34) interned at Discovery, Inc. as a data science intern working on the Food Network Kitchen app. This was her first experience working in the tech industry, whereas her internship last summer was in consulting. She said, “My favorite part was being able to work with consumer data and conduct behavioral analysis on app interactions. It was also so interesting seeing all the data that is collected and processed behind the scenes in order to make continuous improvements to the product.” Outside of her internship, she went on multiple short trips to new cities including Boston, Portland, New York City, and Ithaca to see friends from both high school and college. During her time in Seattle, she visited the Discovery, Inc. office in person, hung out with fellow interns that lived in the area, and even went to the QUEST meetup where she met someone from Cohort 1! In between, she caught up on some summer reading and says, “If you’re looking for recommendations, my favorites were Pachinko and The Namesake.”

Michelle strolling the streets of NYC this summer

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QUESTServes Plants Roots in Community

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The QUESTServes team stands with one of the trees they planted on Morrill Quad on April 23rd

With spring in full swing on UMD’s campus, we’ve been fortunate to resume some socially-distanced outdoor events to reunite our QUEST community. Student organization QUESTServes was recently able to host its first in-person event of the year – just in time for Earth Day! On Friday, April 23rd, QUESTServes partnered with the UMD Arboretum to help beautify the campus. I had the opportunity to take a break from Zoom classes, get some fresh air, and help out the QUESTServes team!

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Sending off our Spring 2021 Seniors

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It’s May in College Park yet again, which means it’s time for QUEST to say goodbye to a couple of cohorts of amazing seniors. Senior year has looked different than we had expected, but QUEST is proud of our seniors for crossing the finish line! I had the opportunity to speak with some of my fellow classmates about their plans after graduation and reminisce about our time in QUEST!

Priscilla (top) with the team of Cohort 33 students she mentored at QUEST Camp in August 2019

Priscilla Lee (Cohort 32) will be finishing her Masters in bioengineering at UMD in the fall and then starting at Accenture Federal Services this winter! What she will miss the most about QUEST is seeing QUEST members around campus! “Everyone’s so involved and it’s so nice seeing people around (or in Zoom rooms). I will miss being part of the undergraduate community but hope to stay a part of the alumni community in the future.”

Priscilla’s favorite QUEST memory: “Gathering in the QUEST lab before classes! There was usually free food laying around to snack on, and it was so nice talking to members of all cohorts, even if it was only for a few minutes!” Continue reading →

QUEST Social Fosters Community with Masquerade Picnic

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QUEST students with Dr. Bailey at the QUESTSocial Masquerade Picnic on April 24th

In addition to the professional and academic opportunities, one of the great things about QUEST is the community aspect. The Masquerade Picnic, hosted by QUESTSocial, gave many students the opportunity to reconnect with people they hadn’t seen in over a year!

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Snider Consulting Group’s “QUEST” to Strengthen UMD Clubs

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Cohort 34 member Joe Houghton (right) with his Maryland Impact Project Team from Snider Consulting Group.

There are over 800 clubs at the University of Maryland, and a new student consulting group filled with QUESTees is determined to help them! Snider Consulting Group (SCG) uses skills in process improvement, marketing, and research to support their clients: the student clubs of UMD. I had the opportunity to speak with a few QUEST students involved in this exciting new organization that helps support the campus community.

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QUEST Corporate Initiates New Mentorship Program

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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 →

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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Looking for Some Career Guidance? The QUEST Directory Can Help.

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Guest writer Ally Merwitz is a junior in QUEST Cohort 33 studying Operations Management and Business Analytics and Mathematics. She is also the current co-lead of the QUEST Corporate student committee.

Over the course of a mere 1.5 years of QUEST, I cannot count the number of times I have changed my mind about what I plan to do with my life after graduation. I would like to think I am alone in this, but I have talked to enough of my peers to know that so many others have the same indecisive mindset that I do. Through it all, my number one supporters have been the one and only Jess Roffe (QUEST Assistant Director) and the QUEST directory. As much as I could talk to Jess all day, her time is limited. The QUEST directory is a great starting place to find a contact without having to reach out to her or anyone else in the Guild first.

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