Fall 2008 Begins!!!

Quest is now officially into its second year of operation! We have now doubled our student population. All are amazing students adding to the diversity of our campus and community. Below are some pictures of orientation.

A hike with the international students around the Four Lakes trail. Our incoming international students come from Switzerland, Bangladesh, Germany, Korea, China, Italy, South Africa, Cypress, Chile, Kosovo and Scotland. The returning students (in green, called Q-reps) helped run the orientation for the incoming class.At convocation, the students all signed the honour pledge. Phoebe, one of the Q-reps, help serve snacks after convocation. Some of the incoming students on the balcony after convocation. A mixture of first and second year students and staff celebrating.

Racing Beds...a Squamish Tradition

The Bed Races marks the beginning of the Logger Sports Festival in Squamish. Really, you say? Yes, teams literally race beds through an obstacle course down the main street of Squamish. I'm not too sure how this tradition started but the Logger Sports Festival was started on this weekend ( Aug 1st-4th) to commemorate the skills of the workers in the logging industry. Logging was one of Squamish's main sources of economic activity until recently. This are still some logging companies but not on the scale of what it once was. Tourism is now one of the leading sources of economic activity in the area. The Logger Sports Festival celebrates the towns history and attracts skilled loggers from all over the world to compete. For more information and pictures check out their website http://squamishdays.ca/pages/welcome.php

Our Quest Bed Racing Team consisting of some of our students (Phoebe, Regan, Andrew, Sven) and our newest admission counsellor, Melissa. Andrew tackles one of the challenges, target shooting with a lazer gun.

A team effort at sawing

At the end of the race!

T.O.M. in Squamish

The Test of Metal, an annual bike race in Squamish, took place the other weekend. Approximately 800 bikers competed on the treacherous 67 km track (part of which passed by the university)

Here are some picture of the day. For more info about the event check out http://testofmetal.com/

Nevada or Utah...a town in both states

Last weekend I went to Wendover, Nevada for 3 nights. This is a strange little town with a lot of history. Wendover used to be a World War Two Army base. It house over 40,000 men and is where the Enola Gay took off from before dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. This location was chosen largely because the army was testing nuclear bombs in the remote Nevada desert. Wendover is now a growing tourist town known for casinos, concerts and....that's about it.

Wendover is located in both Nevada and Utah. You follow the rules of the state on either side. For example, in Nevada you can gamble and drink alcohol in public and in Utah you can not gamble and only drink in private clubs. Here I am with each foot in a different state. You can slightly make out the state names painted on the road. Wendover is a short distance away from the Bonneville Salt Flats. In 1930's the area became internationally famous when Malcolm Campbell set numerous speed records, not to mention the naming of the legendary Triumph Bonneville motorcycle.Another random American roadside tourist attraction is Wendover Will, the largest neon man in America. Not to be confused with the largest foil ball, largest pitch fork, or largest watermelon...all worthy of a five minute stop for a photo op.

White Water Rafting on the Coquihalla River

This weekend I joined my high school friends for our traditional May Long Weekend vacation. Every year in May we plan a trip and this year involved white water rafting on the Coquihalla River. This river is one of the tributaries to the Fraser River (the main river exiting into the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver). It is located near Hope, B.C. Here's a map so you can have a better idea on where we were.
During the weekend the temperature reached 31 degrees Celsius. Such a high temperature led to the increase in rate of snow melt from the mountains. Due to this, the river levels became very high and the speed of the river was also increased. That equates to an exceptionally fun rafting trip!!! Here are some pictures from the day. I am the one in the blue helmet and sunglasses (looking at the camera)

The Academic Year Comes to a Close...

...but we do have summer courses available.
You can check them out at http://www.questu.ca/academics/summer_programs.php.

Our first academic year has ended and the students have handed in their papers, packed their bags and embarked on their summer adventures.

Here are some pictures from our Year End Adventure Race. All four floors of the residences competed against each other for the coveted Spirit Cup.

Happy Earth Day!!!

Quest is happy to be celebrating Earth Day with the rest of the world.
Being earth friendly and earth conscious students (and admission counsellor), a few of us did the fun chore of recycling the other day. Here's the proof that it's not so bad. So... RECYCLE...look how much fun you can have. All of the weekly recycling refunds goes towards environmental projects on campus organized by the EcoQuest Club.

This weekend, I participated in the annual Soccerfest. This is a huge event in Squamish. There were over 72 teams that came from all over the Vancouver area. At any given time, there were at least eight games being played and all teams played at least 5 games over the course of the weekend. It was a blast!

Fire and Ice in Whistler B.C.

Fire and Ice is a fantastic event held weekly in Whistler during the winter. It involves a giant ice ramp, a ring of fire, spectacular firworks and a few snowboarders with nerves of steel (see picture below). Since Quest is a proud sponsor of the event, I went to watch the show last weekend and talked with people interested in learning more about our university. Brian Taylor (Dean of Enrollment) and Sarah Siddall (Admission Counsellor) joined me at the event. What a great night we had!

International Dinner and Visit to South America

Before heading off on my travels to Quito, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, a group of international students joined me at my house for dinner. It was a great opportunity to welcome a couple of new students that joined Quest in the January term. It was also nice to sit together as a group and discuss some of the exciting things and challenges that come with moving to a new country.

I had a wonderful trip to South America. I visited a number of schools and spoke with many students. Currently at Quest, we only have one student from south of the American border (he is from El Salvador). It is my goal and wish that we have more countries from South America represented at Quest, making our student population even more diverse. Below are a couple of pictures I took with some students at the British School of Quito. We were posing while waiting for a webcast to download. While in Buenos Aires, I had the pleasure of having dinner while watching tango dancers perform. Quite spectacular!!!

Hope you enjoyed the holidays!

Quest is about to start it's second term! Most of our students went home for the holidays, caught up with friends and family, ate lots of turkey, and recharged for their upcoming classes.
I was fortunate to have 2 students stay with me during their break. Lhendup (on the left and is from Bhutan) experienced his first ever Christmas with me and my family. Bjorn (on the right and is from Germany) was able to tell me about the differences of traditions between Canada and his home. Here we are after decorating the Christmas tree (note: Winnie, my dog, tried to help too)