Current Student Profile: Hayley Brown (Q18)

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QUEST member and student athlete Hayley Brown (Q18)

Interview conducted by Sophia Wu (Q18)

1) Tell us: Who is Hayley Brown?

I am a junior marketing major from just north of Toronto, Canada.  I chose the University of Maryland for its strong business program, athletics and its proximity to home.  I came across the QUEST program by chance at an information session in the Smith School, and it has become one of the best decisions I made in college.  I plan on pursuing an MBA back home in Canada, and it would be my ultimate dream to own a marketing agency in Toronto.

2) You are a part of the UMD golf team on campus. What do you enjoy most about golfing?

Golf is a very social game, which enables me to meet people from different backgrounds, cultures, majors and schools.  It’s not a typical sport in the sense that you spend over four hours with your opponents and actually converse with them, as opposed to sweating it out on the court with no interaction.  As far as business is concerned, golf is a great sport for networking and building lasting client relationships.  You can tell a lot about a person by how they act on the golf course, from how they handle pressure, stress and whether they are honest when they are scoring.

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Hayley in action on the golf course

Golf has been a tremendous sport in building my patience and other strong character traits that I show in all other aspects of my life.  Golf is 90% mental, which has helped me build up a strong will and dedication to the tasks I complete.  Being a student athlete has taught me a lot about prioritizing and balance.  In the real world, you don’t have unlimited amounts of time to complete a project, and having a very busy day-to-day schedule has enabled me to work as efficiently as possible with the tools that I have.

Not only is golf a competitive challenge and exercise, but it is also an escape at times.  During a stressful week of exams, a lot of students will become hermits within their room, but sometimes taking a break and spending a beautiful day on the golf course is ideal to refresh your brain.

3) Being a part of QUEST as well as a sports team on campus must be very demanding. What advice would you give others who are in the same situation?

I’m sure everyone has heard it over and over, but time management is key!  There are always enough hours in the day, but you have to learn how to plan and use them effectively.  For me, the toughest part about being a student athlete is missing so much class.  Time is limited on the road, and not physically being in class and hearing the lecture can be very difficult when it comes to exams.  My biggest piece of advice is just to ensure that you stay on top of things, because once you get behind, it’s a dangerous spiralling after-effect.  Secondly, take advantage of building a relationship with your professors.  They will respect your effort, and it can also be a tremendous networking experience.

4) Has QUEST helped your game in any way? If yes, how so?

One of the huge messages that I have pulled from 390 so far is to pursue your passion.  This has helped me tremendously with my golf game this semester as I’ve realized that if I love it, and I’m not forcing it, I play better.  At the end of the day, golf is just a game, and if you truly love it and enjoy playing it, you will see improvements in your performance.

5) What has been your favorite QUEST experience so far?

QUEST camp was an amazing bonding experience and introduction to the QUEST program.  I have made a lot of great friendships through QUEST that go beyond the classroom, and have, in turn, helped me become a more well-rounded person.  Working with students from engineering and computer science backgrounds has opened my eyes to a different way of approaching problems and solutions.  This is invaluable experience, as multidisciplinary teams are very prevalent in the workplace.

6) What is on your QUEST bucket list?

My QUEST bucket list consists of pursing and implementing either my 190 or 390 projects, attending a QUEST study abroad, and helping Dr. Suarez write a book full of his inspirational anecdotes and life experiences!

Ready, Set, Design!

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Article by Melinda Pandiangan (Q19)

Each new cohort in QUEST undergoes the computer design challenge in their 190 class. Even though the entire cohort works hard on their designs, only two designs are ultimately chosen to be built. An inside look on this semester’s winning teams, BestQUESTern and Team U.P., reveals the important lessons Cohort 19 will use in their three years at QUEST and future careers.

Computer Design Challenge computers in the QUEST lab

Computer Design Challenge winning designs are used in the QUEST lab

BestQUESTern

Interviewed: Danny Laurence, computer science major; Tom Oeste, computer science major

Additional Members: Savannah Vogel, Nick Kennitz, Benita Poon

Mentor: Angela Wu

With two computer science majors on the team, it looked like BestQUESTern had this challenge in the bag. In the brainstorming process, Danny Laurence and Tom Oeste flew with ideas, listing features that weren’t currently in the QUEST lab. “In the beginning we got wound up with outlandish ideas, from webcams to liquid cooling,” said Tom.

But the interdisciplinary nature of QUEST grounded the two computer-savvy students. Explaining their design recommendations to the rest of the team forced Danny and Tom to rethink their strategy. “We had to build a computer that made sense for the space,” said Danny, who realized the point of the challenge was not to build a feature-packed computer, but to satisfy the unique needs of QUEST students.

Their final design, dubbed “P.E.A.C.E. of MIND,” was built around appeal and accessibility. Placing a mini ITX computer case on top of the desk addressed concerns about leg room and USB port accessibility. Staying true to the team’s creative nature, BestQUESTern introduced a portable scanner in the package, a tool not present in the lab.

BestQUESTern constructed a physical model to communicate their unique computer design. “Dr. Bailey said he loved the model. It sold the presentation,” said Danny.

Team U.P.

Interviewed: Anne Gladding, business and psychology double major

Additional Members: Max Cooper, Melinda Pandiangan, Bryan Prince, Justin Winslow

Mentor: Sophia Wu

Team U.P. felt additional pressure with the announcement of the computer design challenge. None of the team members had built a computer before. But after entering the design process, the team gained confidence in their ability to complete the challenge. As long as the team kept researching and listening to the “voice of the customer,” their design would stay on the right track.

Quickly, the team chose appropriate components to fulfill the desired qualities of high performance, aesthetics, and speed, gleaned from a QUEST program-wide survey. But Team U.P. still felt unsatisfied. “We had a fast and reliable computer, but that wasn’t enough. We wanted our computer to stand out from the rest,” said Anne.

Team U.P. conducted additional market research, trying find a unique problem still unsolved in the lab. The team struck gold when observing a BMGT490 team conducting a meeting. The four seniors were crowded around a single QUEST lab computer. “That’s when we realized the QUEST lab is a team workspace, an important function overlooked in the survey,” said Anne.

The inspired result was a team-oriented computer, named the “Strata 360.” A mounted monitor and wireless, touchpad keyboard allowed for better visibility and easier collaboration in team meetings.

“They were risky choices, but we were enthusiastic about them. In the end, it paid off,”  Anne reflected.

Summary

The computer design challenge required teams not only to understand the workings of a computer, but to also master the design process. The winning teams committed to the voice of the customer without neglecting innovation.

Teams QUESTasaurus Rex and SWAG vision were also chosen to be built for personal use by Quality Guild members Nicole Coomber and Melanie Ashton.  Across the board, Cohort 19 delivered highly creative presentations. We look forward to following their future work.

Life on a Sheet of Paper

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Article by Chul Kwon (Q18)
Resume Review_ Chul Kwon

“We’ve failed,” I said to myself after the results for last year’s 190H Computer Challenge were released. Despite the fact that my team’s design had a dual-monitor configuration and over-clocked CPU and over-clocked RAMs, my team had placed in second on features and third on performance, ultimately having insufficient scores to win the competition. Furthermore, despite my team’s repeated assurance, the audience deemed our computer very unreliable, as they gave us a failing mark on reliability. My team could not believe our eyes and complained about how irrational the audience behaved. It took me weeks to finally figure out what was wrong with my team’s product. The problem wasn’t in our design, but us. We spent so much of our time on the design and didn’t put enough effort in preparing for our presentation. As a result, we failed to effectively convey our ideas to the judges. This is when I realized that communicating thoughts effectively is equally as important as having great knowledge and skills. This lesson is very applicable in real life.

As a QUEST member, for example, you have worked hard in your life. You have spent a countless number of hours learning and acquiring the skills that push you to be outstanding among your peers and outperform the ever-increasing competition. However, no matter who you are or what you’ve accomplished, your life must be summarized on a sheet of letter-sized paper that you call your resume. Your potential employer will spend no more than 30 seconds reading it to decide your fate. It will be a first impression you’ll be making, so make it count.

On August 31st, 2011, over 10 QUEST alumni visited the Smith School and held a resume review session to help current students with their resume. During two hour-long sessions, one for business majors and the other for engineering/CMNS majors, they gave current students an insight into the resume review process, and offered tips and opinions from the perspectives of interviewers and senior employees. Here’s a list of some of the tips given at the resume review:
• Always use action verbs.
• Don’t write a “laundry list” resume. Write only what is relevant to the position for which you are applying; it should also implicitly tell the employer how it matters to his company.
• Never use pronoun “we”. The employer is only interested in what you did.
• The most important information should go to the top portion of your resume; push less important information to the bottom of your resume.
• Write in the reader’s language. In other words, write in a way that the reader can understand.
• Know every detail on your resume. You should be able to answer with confidence when your interviewer asks you for more details on specific items on your resume.

My final piece of advice to current QUEST students is to suggest that you use this opportunity to revisit your resume and try to identify if there is any room for improvement. If you want to get some constructive feedback on how your resume compares against others, take advantage of the career services offered through the Smith School and the University of Maryland before your next interview.

Thoughts from a QUEST Mentor

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Mentors and TAs at QUEST Camp 2011

Mentors and TAs at QUEST Camp 2011

Interview conducted by Sophia Wu

Angela Wu (Q18), mentor, reflects on her experiences in her new role and what she hopes to convey to the students of Cohort 19.

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us how you became a mentor for Cohort 19.
I’m a Junior in Fire Protection Engineering, and I’m in Cohort 18. I became a mentor this semester because: a) 190H was the most refreshing class I’ve taken at UMD thus far, and b) my mentors were fabulous and inspired me to follow in their footsteps. Shoutout to Aaron Wertman and Michele Fried!

2. As a mentor, what is your role in the 190H experience?
After watching my team work together at QUEST Camp, I sensed that they already had the ability and drive to succeed in 190H. I noticed so much potential in the new cohort that I wasn’t sure what my role was as a mentor. After a couple weeks, I think I’ve figured it out. Being a mentor means that I am there to push my team along as they begin to grasp the ideas of teams, innovation, and design. As Nicole and Melanie have said, for mentors, process is greater than content. While we do not get to give input into which monitor their computers should have for the computer design challenge, we do facilitate the team dynamic and answer any questions so that they are on the right track to making their projects the best they could possibly be.

3. What are some challenges you face being a mentor?
One major challenge I have being a mentor is that I always have to resist the urge to tell my team exactly what works and what doesn’t. I wanted to tell them how to make their computer extraordinary but I wasn’t allowed to. But guess what? They ended up making it extraordinary anyway. This is because every new cohort that takes 190H comes up with these brand new innovative ideas that weren’t ever thought of in previous years. We have such creative students in QUEST, so if mentors just told Cohort 19 what to do, what fun would that be?

4. Tell us, how was it to go to QUEST Camp for the second time?
So much fun. It was even better the second time because I didn’t have to do anything except play! But in all seriousness, it was very entertaining to watch how differently Cohort 19 tackled their pilot products and raft designs in comparison to the how my cohort had. High ropes was popular, as it was last year, but as usual, a few people couldn’t get past their fears to try it out.

5. What’s one thing you wish someone told you when you were in 190H?
Shop for your suit early, if you don’t have one already. You’ll need it for your final presentation, but it takes forever to find one that fits. Forever.

“This one time, at QUEST Camp…”

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Cohort 19 bonds during two-day orientation at Camp Horizons

Article by Meenu Singh (Q19)

From August 25th to 26th, 2011, QUEST Cohort 19 voyaged to Harrisonburg, Virginia to spend a day and a half at the Outdoor Learning Center at Camp Horizons for QUEST New Student Orientation. IMG_5916

The Cohort departed bright and early on the 25th for a two-hour bus ride to the picturesque Shenandoah Mountains. Though the weather was less than perfect, the spontaneous bouts of torrential downpour failed to put a damper on QUEST Camp activities. The first day included a variety of icebreakers, leadership personality tests, and plenty of high-flying team building activities, including tackling the ropes and zip lining challenge course. “My favorite part was when I overcame my fear of heights and went zip lining,” said Nupur Kothari, a member of Cohort 19. “Everyone was cheering me on and helping me through it.”

Q19 members were also introduced to their teams for BMGT190H, and had the opportunity to work with their groups to innovate during the “Pilot Products” challenge. The teams showed off their creativity and sense of humor with products ranging from medical devices to ingenious iPhone applications to magnetic-clasp bras. The activity also gave Cohort 19 students a sample of QUEST challenges to come. “Pilot products definitely gave me a taste of presenting and coming up with ideas quickly,” said Rubbel Kumar. Teams then had to market their products in two-minute skits, which were judged by a panel comprised of team mentors and BMGT190H teaching assistants. “QUEST Camp really helped us get to know our teams early and to start bonding with our team members,” reported Bryan Prince from Team U.P.
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The first day finished off with a campfire and s’mores. As students roasted marshmallows, older QUEST members spoke about their experiences in the program and answered frequently asked “QUESTions” about the program. Several students finished the night by playing board games and bonding underneath the perfectly clear night sky.

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The highlight of the second day was undoubtedly the raft-building competition, in which teams had to first construct a raft from cardboard boxes, duct tape, and plastic garbage bags. Students then had to race the rafts across Lake Phillipa. Although many rafts were not as successful as anticipated, the competition was full of cheers, laughs and fun for all…though perhaps not as much fun for those who took an unexpected morning swim in the lake.

As students packed up their belongings and headed back to their buses, they reflected on their time at Camp and on their expectations for the upcoming year. “My favorite part of QUEST Camp was probably the fact that everyone was so open with each other,” said Q19’s Becky Gagnon. “Usually orientations are awkward because people tend to stick only with the people they know. But at QUEST Camp, you could sit at a table with people you’d never met and have a good conversation without feeling like you were being judged.”

As the Cohort made their way back to College Park, the buses were buzzing with chatter and excitement over the events of past day and a half and the prospect of the next three years in the QUEST program. Most importantly, however, students stepped off the bus not as assorted Cohort 19 members, but as friends.
Cohort 19 would like to thank both Camp Horizons along with QUEST faculty and staff for making QUEST Camp such a memorable, enjoyable experience. As we embark on the first leg of our QUEST journey this year, we cannot wait to see what’s over the horizon!

Cohort 19 photo - resized

New IQ Events Policy

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Article by Artem Shvadskiy (Q18) & Vikram Bhandari (Q18)

It’s official…mandatory IQ events are a thing of the past. After analyzing the voice of the customer, QUEST Director and Bowtie Officianado Dr. Bailey, along with other members of the Quality Guild, has decided to rethink QUEST’s approach to these activities. The events will continue, make no mistake of that. Now, however, instead of being confined by the bounds of an LE (Learning Event) or CE (Community Event), QUEST events will have a larger community focus with an emphasis on innovative ways of bringing QUEST together. This shift involves taking the co-curricular component out from the LE events and putting them into the 190, 390, and 490 curriculums. Also, by placing many of the learning aspects of IQ events into the courses, concepts can be better tailored to the education level of the students; seniors participate in more advanced concepts, while sophomores start with basic issues. Instead of mixing social and learning aspects into one event, QUEST is separating them in order to push both aspects to new boundaries.

This change can be viewed as an ultra-modernization of the IQ events which places a significant amount of faith in the students. No longer constrained to Blackboard, Facebook invites fill these events quickly and efficiently – instead of taking days to pack the roster for an alumni dinner, the most recent alumni event reached full capacity in under an hour. This is exactly the direction that the events should be going since the goal is to encourage students to want to attend, rather than force them through mandatory credits.

This interest-based approach also allows the QUEST faculty to provide better events. By seeing which sessions are most heavily attended, QUEST will change the types of events offered so that students can make the most of their time in the program. For example, the packed room at Deloitte’s event proves that company visits seem to be popular. Expanding on this, there are plans to offer trips to visit companies on their own turf, which will provide even better real-world exposure.

As QUEST students progress through their three years, there will be semesters where they are not taking a QUEST course. Consequently, it is often difficult to stay in contact with fellow cohort members. Another major purpose of the change in IQ policy is to provide more events that are purely community focused, allowing everyone the opportunity to reconnect with fellow cohort members, or meet new people from other cohorts. QUEST is a community, and it takes the participation of members to keep a community thriving. We encourage everyone to attend as many events as possible because these events are specifically provided for QUEST students. And with that, we would like to leave with a thought to consider: “You get out of QUEST what you put into QUEST.”

QUEST Senior Retreat with Accenture

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Article by Valentine Kravets (Q17)

Upon arriving at the Ronald Reagan Building in D.C. on September 16th, seniors of QUEST’s Cohort 17 did not know what to expect of the annual Accenture retreat. Students shuffled into the Ronald Reagan building, bleary-eyed and dressed in their business professional attire as the Accenture team gathered in the lecture room for their presentation. The meeting between Accenture employees and QUEST students turned into quite an unforgettable experience.

As soon as the Accenture lecture began, students were hastily thrown into a consulting scenario during which they had to work in teams of five to solve the problem of the mock beverage company that Accenture employees represented. This challenging scenario consisted of unifying the beverage company’s various isolated marketing departments while expanding the company’s media outreach to new social outlets, and proved a daunting task for the QUEST students.

Many teams struggled in communicating with their “difficult” clients; some of the more extreme client behavior ranged from unexpectedly rude denial of nearly all proposed ideas, to disengaged meetings as clients played Angry Birds or checked their emails on their smart phones. Midway through the meetings and planning sessions, just as teams were getting settled with their project scopes, the clients imposed new challenges that expanded the requirements of the project and demanded a restructuring of solutions. Some teams were challenged with an e-mail from a client stating that they would be unavailable for the remainder of the consulting period due to vacation. Other teams had to deal with expanding their solution to other departments of the beverage company outside of the initial scope of the project.

Despite these challenges, Cohort 17 students worked collaboratively and effectively to produce innovative solutions. Recommendations ranged from expanding marketing to various social networks (Facebook and Twitter) to unifying the independent departments with a single appealing direction that promoted the diversity and history of the company through commercials, slogans, and logos. The retreat was a very eye-opening experience for students, providing them with essential consulting experience that will certainly be used during the remainder of the 490H class experience. It is evident that the Cohort 17 students will continue to work hard in their teams to produce great solutions for their real-world clients as they prepare for the culmination of the QUEST undergraduate experience during the much-anticipated, annual QUEST Senior Conference in December.

QUEST Alumni Board – Student Focus Team

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Article by Brian Bender (Q5) – Student Focus Team, Communications Lead

 

As we approach the ninth month of the QUEST Alumni Board (“QAB”) it appears that we are well on our way to creating a significant and impactful addition to the QUEST community. In the last QUESTPress from June, the QUEST community learned about the Alumni Focus Team (“AFT”). It is my turn to discuss the Student Focus Team (“SFT”).

The SFT’s mission is to:
Connect current QUEST students with QUEST alumni using educational, extracurricular, and formal/non-formal events and programs.

The SFT wants to ensure that current QUEST students have the ability to interact with alumni, alumni have the ability to give back to QUEST, and current students understand that during their transition into their post-QUEST endeavors they have a group that supports them.

The SFT is looking to piggy-back off of the success of the first QUEST Student-Alumni dinner, which was held in March, by planning another one for early next semester. This event sat alumni at tables with current students to discuss a wide variety of topics, including current QUEST classes, changes in QUEST over the years, post-graduation and summer vacation plans, etc.

Other events being planned are a football tailgate (being arranged by Josh Davis), alumni participation in QUEST Orientation and participation in co-curricular QUEST events. A few informal events being considered include paintball, bowling, happy hours, volunteering (Habitat for Humanity), etc.

One recommended event the SFT has undertaken, which is being led by Megan Harvey, is a resume review session. The initial thought is to have alumni come back to campus and hold an event in a classroom type setting where current QUEST students are able to have their resumes reviewed from the perspective of a potential employer. This event is planned for next Wednesday, August 31. If you’re interested in attending, send an email to QUESTAlumniBoard@gmail.com

Lastly, I would like to discuss the mentor program that the QAB is trying to initiate. The SFT and the AFT are beginning the joint process of determining a structure for this program. The teams have designated representatives who will be gathering benchmarking data on existing mentor programs at different businesses and outside work settings. Kyle (SFT) and Yana (AFT) will bring their findings back to the QAB for discussion. This is a significant undertaking, and the QAB wants to ensure that the program selected/created will fulfill all of the needs of the members in the QUEST community.

If you have any questions, or comments on the SFT, events or programs noted above please contact the QAB at questalumniboard@gmail or Student Focus Team Communications Lead Brian Bender at brianmb62@gmail.com.

The QAB Student Focus Team members are:
Brian Bender, Kyle Bodt, Jenna Cohen, Josh Davis, V-Khye Gideon Fan, Megan Harvey, Justin Schwartz, Matt Thomas, and Marc Kramer (QSO President).

Current Student Profile: Alex Bansleben (Q18)

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Interview Conducted by Sophia Wu (Q18)

Who is Alex Bansleben? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a junior in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in International Development and Conflict Management. Home is in Columbia, MD but I’m very excited to live in Varsity this year! Besides QUEST, I am involved in Engineers without Borders, I lead trips with Alternative Spring Breaks, and, for my side job, I drive busses with Shuttle UM.

 

From the summer agenda you outlined for us in the last issue of QUESTPress, it sounds like you’ve had a very memorable summer. If you had to choose the best memory, what would it be?
I know this is not the answer you want to see, but I can’t choose! My favorite part of the summer was the tremendous variety of experiences I had. From a soccer riot in Morocco to exploring tapas in Barcelona, from watching the sunset in Paris with my family to drinking Coca-Cola out of a Zip-lock bag in Nicaragua, all of the experiences were incredible and unforgettable.

As a second year QUEST student, you have decided to be a mentor for the new Cohort 19 students this semester. What motivated you to become a mentor?
There are a couple reasons, but the main one is that I loved my 190 experience and my team (Q-Tips represent) and mentor (Emily Pearson) and I want to help guide incoming students and show them what QUEST is all about!

In terms of QUEST activities, what are you most excited about this year?
The QUEST activity I am most excited for is one that doesn’t even really exist yet. I have been talking with a bunch of other students in Cohort 18 to set up a special QUEST spring break service-learning trip to Panama! The trip will take QUEST students to the country for a week with a specific focus on business and consulting with locals in a community. This is still being set up, so keep your eyes peeled for more info!

If you had to give one piece of advice to Cohort 19 about QUEST Camp, what would it be?
I have two pieces of advice. Number one is to avoid that high-wire crossing that has only a top and bottom rope and you have to push out on the top to move across. Seriously, that scared me. Also, it is never too early to really go out of your way and meet other people in your cohort. You will be with them for three years, so start making friends now!

Summer Recap: Student Internships and Travels

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Internships/Jobs:

Elizabeth Blankenhorn – Cohort 18:
This summer, I interned at a start-up nanotechnology company, XiGo Nanotools, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. XiGo created the Acorn Area, an instrument that uses proton shifts due to changing magnetic fields (NMR spectroscopy) to measure the surface area of nanoparticles. The Acorn Area is revolutionary in this generation of nanotechnology instruments, as it is not only an accurate method to measure a particle’s surface area, but also an efficient one. While old methods can take up to an hour per sample, the Acorn Area can produce results within three to ten minutes. In fact, Instrument Business Outlook has nominated XiGo’s technology for the 2011 industrial design award for laboratory instruments.

XiGo sells the instruments to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and private companies around the world. XiGo also invites potential buyers to send samples to the lab in Bethlehem to be measured on our instrument. It was my job this summer to make surface area measurements of those samples to be sent back to the companies in report format. XiGo uses this opportunity to showcase the instrument’s accuracy to the customer and close sales. I also had the opportunity to assist in demonstrations for investor funding as well as in sales pitches to companies such as L’Oreal.

Chul Kwon – Cohort 18:
My summer has been going great so far. I have been working as an intern at Northrop Grumman Corporation. My team currently is working on a new ambitious information management platform that can process petabytes (1 petabyte = 1,000 terabyte = 1m gigabytes) of data at a very fast rate. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to speak freely about it, but I’m very happy that I got this golden opportunity to work on such leading edge technology that could potentially revolutionize the industry.

The internship program at Northrop Grumman is considered one of the best among the Fortune 500 companies. You get a chance to work with veterans in the field, and they treat you as true member of their team, assigning you real work and responsibilities. Plus, although it really depends on which manager you get, managers will give you fairly unlimited support for your work and there’s no restriction on work schedule. You can take literally 4 hours of lunch, as long as you get your work done. I have a coworker who comes to work at around 10am, generally take a one-hour lunch break, and leaves for home around 4pm. His manager doesn’t say anything about it because he really gets his work done and his performance generally exceeds expectations.

It’s a great internship opportunity that every QUEST member should try to have. If you’re a computer science/engineering major, mathematics major, information systems/technology major, or any computer-related engineering major and are interested in applying, please let me know!

Michael Hamilton – Cohort 18:
My internship at SpaceX in Los Angeles, which I talked about in June’s QUESTPress, was amazing. I got to work up close with rockets that were being built in the same building that I worked in. On the weekends, I surfed, sat by the beach, went skydiving, explored Hollywood and hiked in the mountains, just to name a few things. In addition to this, I learned to ask questions early and often. Everyone there was happy to help me out and I accomplished much more than I would have had I tried to be too independent.

Justine Hong – Cohort 19:
This entire summer I worked at Georgetown Cupcake as a store associate. I, personally, am a huge fan of the delicious cupcakes the store sells and was more than excited to work at the store. I learned a lot about what it takes to operate a small family-owned business as well as witness how a small business expands. I met tons of different customers from around the world, had my picture taken hundreds of times with customers and cupcakes, and met the owners of the store! This was an exciting summer since I was able to be a part of such a small business in the heart of DC. The staff and the customers made my work experience thrilling. This was such a rewarding summer. Hopefully I’ll continue to work there throughout the rest of the year.

Travels/Trips:

Nathan Elencweig – Cohort 18:
Earlier this summer I wrote about my trip to Peru with Engineers without Borders. I had an amazing time with EWB, and the final results felt very fulfilling. Since we finished the project ahead of schedule, we were able to visit Machu Picchu, among many other Inca ruins. The scenery was incredible, and at the time, I thought I saw the best South America had to offer. But, I was wrong! After the rest of my Engineering teammates flew home, I grabbed my 40 pound backpack and met my best friend, who was studying abroad in Buenos Aires. We backpacked across Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru for fourweeks.
We went on a seven-day trek in the Bolivian Amazon, and got to see alligators, macaws, capybaras, and, of course, monkeys. With the supervision of a local guide, we went piranha fishing (eating them for dinner was not that great of an experience). Shortly after, we drove the boat 200 meters down-river and jumped in for a swim in the Amazon. I slept in a mosquito net on the jungle floor. One morning, I woke up with a tarantula not too far from where I slept. Due to my extreme fear of spiders, I panicked and came close to crying in my sleeping bag.

Other than the Amazon, some other exciting experiences include biking down 50 km of “Death Road” outside of La Paz, cliff diving outside of Cusco, and riding motorbikes for the first time.

I’ve never been interested in “the extreme” prior to traveling, but I had an incredible time in South America, discovering a new side of myself.

Moses Lahey, Cohort 18:
For the past two months, I’ve had the pleasure of taking part in a study abroad trip in Taipei. Aside from learning Chinese, I’ve been able to learn a bit about the culture through the sites and people I’ve encountered while in Taiwan. Cheap bubble tea and street food and convenient and inexpensive cabs and subways made Taipei seem like a college student’s dreamland – did I mention the drinking age here is 18?

Aside from all that, the people here are extremely friendly, and most are more than willing to help you order food or get directions if you can’t read or speak any Chinese. There are a lot of interesting sites to see and explore like Jiufen and the local night markets, as well as quite a few nice places to chill and relax, all made easier by how cheap everything here is (a trip to the hot springs was less than a dollar for students).

Staying here for the past two months has been an awesome experience – although it definitely messed with my perception of living expenses. I really encourage anyone who is interested to visit Taiwan and to experience the food, people and culture here!