QUEST STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS Our seven QUEST student organizations remained committed to building meaningful experiences for our students outside of the classroom this year, pivoting to virtual events for most of the year and a few safe outdoor activities towards the end of the year. Below is an overview of each.
QUEST CORPORATE
QUESTSERVES
The QUEST Corporate student committee plans events to connect students with corporate partners and alumni and help prepare them for opportunities in the professional world. This year, QUEST Corporate hosted its sixth annual (and first virtual) networking event, with 30 companies and 138 students in attendance. Even in the virtual environment, QUEST Corporate was committed to delivering students with several new opportunities for professional development. These initiatives included mock interviews, a mentorship program between alumni and students, a career paths night, and an event focused on international opportunities. “Our team is dedicated to creating a space for students to continue developing their professional and personal skills outside of the classroom. With events focused on topics like networking and interview prep, we help students build a toolbox that allows them to succeed in any path they choose!” said QUEST Corporate co-lead Alvina Pan, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics ‘21 (Cohort 32).
As QUEST’s newest student organization, QUESTServes works to connect QUEST students with local communities by providing opportunities to engage, enrich, and empower others through outreach, leadership, and service. Over the past year, the QUESTServes team partnered with Knock Knock Give a Sock to plan and execute a sock donation campaign where they received over 500 pairs of socks to donate to local homeless shelters and celebrated Earth Day by planting trees on campus with the UMD Arboretum. They are also planning the first annual QUEST 5K to be hosted during the fall 2021 semester. When sharing his experience about joining QUESTServes during the pandemic, Ryan Goodman, finance ‘23 (Cohort 36), said, “Finding a way to do good and give back with QUESTServes to the local community during such a trying time was really special to me.”
QUEST CREATIVE QUEST Creative provides all QUEST students with a creative outlet. This year, QUEST Creative collaborated with QUEST Social to develop a virtual MasterClass series for the community, led by program alumni and staff. They also helped plan QUEST’s first in-person event of the year, the QUEST Picnic. QUEST Creative co-lead, Vivek Banerjee, computer science ‘22 (Cohort 34), said, “QUEST Creative gives me the chance to connect and give back to the community that has done so much for me through art and design! With the dedication of the amazing QUEST Creative and QUEST Social members, QUEST had one of the most successful and heart-warming picnics I could've asked for!” QUESTServes members partnered with the UMD Arboretum to plant trees on campus in April
Page 18
QUEST Honors Program
