Quest University Canada

Alumni Association (QUCAA)

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About Us

The Quest University Canada Alumni Association (QUCAA) is a global community, connected by a shared experience of undergraduate liberal arts education, and supporting each others’ life, work, and play. QUCAA was founded in 2017 when a group of alumni recognized the need to establish an alumni-focused organisation independent of Quest. Our mission is to: Support a thriving, global network across our membership Promote a community culture of curiosity, life-long learning, and engagement ‍Provide resources and support to meet the needs of Quest alumni and Quest University in our world today University-alumni Relations QUCAA is continuously working with Quest to develop a mutually beneficial working relationship, for the interest of the University and its alumni. Transcripts Many alumni face challenges when using their Quest transcript and course syllabi to apply to grad schools. We are working with individual alumni and Quest executives to implement changes and hopefully make alumni’s life easier.

Territorial Acknowledgement

Our alumni live in all corners of the Earth, places with their own unique histories. Yet, each of us is connected to the territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples, and to its history, by our experience at Quest University. Therefore, we acknowledge that Quest University Canada sits on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to learn, work, and live in this blessed territory.

Leadership

Our board of directors is composed of volunteer alumni from 5 cohorts and 4 time zones, with diverse professional and educational backgrounds in film and television, real estate, education, community organising, business, public administration, pubilc health, computer science. Since the alumni association was founded, many individual alumni have given their time, energy, expertise and more to help it grow and thrive. We are infinitely grateful those who came before us and carried this association through the first several years – particularly Brad Klees, Becca Dickinson, Colin Wilt, Easton Smith, Barbara Fernandes, and Eva Schipper.

Quest 2026 Reunion

Quest 2026 Reunion

May 29–31, 2026 | Evans Lake, Squamish, BC Three days. Two nights. One community. Join fellow Questies for a weekend of reconnection, reflection, and celebration at Evans Lake Forest Education Centre. This intimate gathering is a chance to rekindle friendships, share stories, and experience that Quest magic all over again. What to Expect Morning talks from invited faculty speakers Community day with alumni-led breakout sessions Adventure pursuits in small groups Megatrivia (yes, it's back) Open mic, dancing, and plenty of time to hang out We've designed the weekend to balance structured programming with space for spontaneous conversation and connection. The Details When: Friday 29 May (arrival from 4:30pm) to Sunday 31 May (departure by 2pm) Where: Evans Lake Forest Education Society, Squamish, BC Capacity: 120 attendees (registration required—no drop-ins) Tickets Your ticket includes two nights' accommodation, all meals, and full access to activities and programming. Early Bird: $330 (January–mid February 2026)  Regular: $380 (mid-February until sold out) Saturday May 30th - Day Rate: $200 (limited availability) Sliding-scale and "pay what you can" options available—we don't want cost to be a barrier. Accommodation Stay in heated cabins with bunk beds and single beds. You can request to bunk with friends, or opt for a women-only, men-only, or gender-inclusive cabin. Semi-private rooms are available for those with accessibility or personal needs. Bring your own bedding or sleeping bag, linens, towel, and toiletries. Getting There We encourage carpooling—parking is limited. Local alumni are welcome to sleep at home, though ticket prices remain the same. Questions? Check out our FAQ page for details on refunds, dietary needs, day-rate options, children and plus-ones, and more.

Purchase Tickets

Join Us for the Quest University Canada Reunion - Squamish 2026Join fellow Questies for a weekend of reconnection, reflection, and celebration at Evans Lake Forest Education Centre. This intimate gathering is a chance to rekindle friendships, share stories, and experience that Quest magic all over again.What to ExpectMorning talks from invited faculty speakersCommunity day with alumni-led breakout sessionsAdventure pursuits in small groupsMegatrivia (yes, it's back)Open mic, dancing, and plenty of time to hang outWe've designed the weekend to balance structured programming with space for spontaneous conversation and connection.Sliding Scale Tickets We don't want cost to be a barrier to attend the 2026 Reunion. We are offering 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% discount codes to anyone who requests one. Please fill out this form and we will email you a custom discount code.Further DetailsQuest Alumni Association Website or email us at reunion@questalumni.ca

Reunion FAQ

Welcome! Below are answers to common questions about registration, accommodations, tickets, logistics, and the venue. This page will be updated periodically. Registration & Attendance  Q: How do I register? A: Click the link to register and complete your payment here. Q: Will it be possible to partially attend the gathering? My schedule is undecided, and attending the full program may be difficult. A: The intention of the reunion is to create an intimate three-day two-night experience for connection and community. However, we understand full attendance isn’t possible for everyone.  A limited number of day-rate tickets are available for Saturday, May 30, which cover food and activities.  Q: How many people can attend? Is there a cap? Can I just drop-in to say hello?  A: The venue has a limited capacity for lodging and meals. Registration in advance is required by the venue, so drop-ins are not permitted. Tickets & Payment Q: What are the ticket prices and what is included? A: The ticket includes: ✔ Lodging for two nights (Note: Lodging does not include linens and towels) ✔ All meals ✔ All activities and programming $330 Early bird price. Registration from Jan - mid Feb 2026 (Limited to 50 tickets)  $380 Regular price. Registration from mid Feb 2026 till 11:59 pm Sunday February 14, 2026 $200 Day rate ticket for Saturday May 30 (Limited amount) Q: Are sliding-scale or “pay what you can” options available? A: Yes! We don’t want cost to be a barrier. Once we’ve sold enough tickets to cover the cost of the event, we will communicate with everyone who has requested a reduced cost ticket to offer discounted ticket options. Please fill out this form to register. Q: What is the refund policy? A: If your plans have changed, email us to request a refund: reunion@questalumni.ca 100% refund by February 28, 2026 50% refund after March 1, 2026 If we are able to fill your spot with another attendee, the remainder of your ticket will be refunded. Q: What payment methods are accepted? A: Payment can be completed through the Zeffy Registration link:  Credit Card: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Union Pay Pre-authorized debit (PAD) Q: When is payment due—at registration or later? A: Full payment is due upon registration. Arrival, Check-In, & Logistics Q: What are the arrival and check-in times? A: Arrival: Friday, May 29 at 4:30pm Departure: Sunday, May 31 before 2:00pm Q: Will transportation be available? I don’t have a car. How can I get there? A: Closer to the event date, we will reach out to help coordinate transportation options. We encourage people to carpool as there is limited parking space. Q: I live locally. Do I have to stay overnight? A: You’re welcome to stay overnight as there are more than enough beds!  Local attendees may choose to sleep at home if they prefer. There are no reduced ticket prices for staying at home as the venue charges a day rate that is the same as overnight rates.  Accommodations Q: What is the accommodation setup at Evans Lake? A: Each cabin has bunk beds and single beds for 11-12 people. There are some semi-private rooms available for those with accessibility and/or personal needs.  After registration, you will receive information about accommodation options. You may indicate if you prefer a women-only, men-only, or gender-inclusive cabins. If you’d like to stay with friends, let us know, and we will do our best to group you together. Q: Do I need to bring bedding?  A: Yes, bring bedding, sleeping bag, linens, and toiletries. Q: Is the venue wheelchair accessible? A: The washrooms, Dining Hall, Rec hall and 6 of 10 cabins are wheelchair accessible. Q: Are there accessible toilets and showers? A: In between the cabins are the main washroom facilities. Punch Bowl, the boy’s washrooms is nestled between cabins 2 to 3; Rose Bowl, the girl’s washroom, is located between cabins 8-9. Or both bathrooms can be used as all-gender facilities. The washrooms have multiple toilets and shower stalls, a large multi-sink vanity, and drying lines for wet clothing. All washrooms have hot and cold water, and flush toilets. Food & Drinks Q: Can I make dietary requests?  A: Yes, allergies and special diet needs can be accommodated.  After registration, you will be asked to provide your dietary needs.  Q: Booze and drugs? A: The venue does not allow BYOB, and drugs are strictly prohibited as it is an educational facility. But we plan to have a permit to sell alcoholic beverages. Family, Guests, and Pets Q: Can I bring my pet? A: Pets are not permitted at the camp with the exception of certified assistance animals. Q: Can I bring children or plus-ones? Q: Can I bring children or plus-ones? A: Yes, absolutely! Family members are welcome to attend!  The venue requires that children ages 4 and older pay the same lodging and food rates as adults, so there are no reduced-price tickets for children, unfortunately. Programming & Activities Q: Are faculty and staff invited? A: Yes! We’ve invited select faculty to attend as speakers or activity leaders. Feel free to share the reunion event info with staff and faculty so they can register! More questions? Email us at reunion@questalumni.ca

Weekend Agenda

Friday 29 May From 4:30pm — Arrival and check-in 5:30pm — Dinner Evening — Open mic and welcome gathering Saturday 30 May 8:30am — Breakfast Morning — Talks from guest faculty speakers 12:30pm — Lunch Afternoon — Community day: alumni-led breakout sessions 5:30pm — Dinner Evening — Megatrivia, DJ, dancing, and bar Sunday 31 May Morning — Breakfast Late morning — Closing circle and goodbyes By 2pm — Check-out and departure

News & Updates

Welcome Aisha!

Hello dear Questies,  My name is Aisha and I graduated from Quest in 2016. My question was “How can we measure ecological health?” I was (and still am) curious about interdisciplinary ways to understand relationships within ecosystems. My favourite courses were with Mai, Court, Negar, and visiting tutor Leigh Joseph. I also begrudgingly took a Foundations music course in my 4th year and it opened my mind to a world of music I hadn’t engaged with before!!!  After graduation, I worked for an Eco NGO in Tofino, which led me to become a certified teacher. I completed my Masters of Education at Vancouver Island University (‘24), focusing my thesis on teacher experiences of dissonance. I still have many questions, and am continually studying myself and my relationships within the system of education. I am forever grateful to the Quest model of education; it prepared me to be in a constant state of learning and guides how I engage my students in the BC public education system. I am now living in Cumberland, BC where I love to be moving my body in outdoor spaces, diving into a good read, and sharing food. I am excited to be a new member of the QUCAA, joining a well-established Board of fellow alumni with a shared mission of keeping the vibrant “Quest spirit” accessible to our alumni community.

Welcome Darwyn!

Hello fellow Quest Alumni! I’m Darwyn, (Class of 2013). My question was “How can we use science and media to more effectively communicate and advocate for social and environmental justice?”. During my studies I was particularly interested to understand what motivates people to act in more environmentally and socially conscious ways. I think I took almost every class of Mai’s that I could, I’m not sure if there’s a record but I expect I’d be in contention for that. I was so fortunate to take advantage of several exchange opportunities, and was part of the 2 month Borneo expedition over the 2010 Olympic break, a semester studying in Friedrichshafen, Germany at our partner Zeppelin University, and I’m sure I have forgotten nearly all of the language studies from a 2 block Arabic immersive in Fez, Morocco (our patient teacher would probably be so offended by that!). The quality and depth of the friendships and connections I found at Quest and abroad continue to surprise and delight me, it’s what I cherish most about those years. I did a little travelling following graduation, but continued to live in Squamish working for the District, and building a small beekeeping and bee breeding business before moving back to Vancouver Island in 2019. I am gratefully living, working, (and playing as much as possible) in the unceded and traditional territories of the K’ómoks, Kwalikum, and Snaw-naw-as peoples, in a community now known as Errington. We’re right next to the famous Goats on the Roof, maybe you’ve heard of it.  I’m now working with 4TVI (Tourism Vancouver Island) in Destination, Development and Stewardship, supporting community-led tourism, climate resilience, and restoration initiatives, with a strong emphasis on centering local and Indigenous voices in decision-making and strategic planning. I am grateful for my Quest education every day. When I’m not at work, I might be getting my hands dirty in my home pottery studio, helping my partner and Quest Alum Michi with her seed business (cicadaseeds.ca), or adventuring around this beautiful island by boat.   I’m thrilled to be joining the QUCAA board and excited to be more involved in the celebration and preservation of that magical Quest Spirit. Kermodes forever!

Welcome Caleb!

Hi Quest Community!  I was part of Quest's first graduating class. There were 79 students and 6 tutors when I joined, and South Village was the only residence. I have met many people who went to Quest years after I graduated, and though I know everyone's experience was different, it has been a pleasure to meet others who went there even years after I left – I think there is a shared love of learning and a willingness to operate outside of the norm for most people who chose to study at Quest. For me, my time at Quest was special and I learned a lot from the whole community. I also made friends there who I still count among my closest. It seems a bio should have work stuff – I have worked in wildfire management since I was 16 years old, from being on crews to managing operations for the Yukon Territory, and I now work part time as a consultant on national, provincial, and community wildfire risk mitigation projects. Working with communities and translating technical knowledge to community leaders and other non-experts is rewarding for me, and that passion was fueled at Quest. I also play music as much as I can and I'm fortunate that it's how I spend most of my time. I love it and it's been a tremendous way for me to connect with people. The musical collaborations I had at Quest were formative. I don't know if I ever would have prioritized music in my life if not for the influence of other Quest musicians.  Thank you for the opportunity to work on the QUCAA board. I'm looking forward to it.

Tala Schlossberg - Keeping up with the Kermodes

Current Location: Portland, Oregon/NYC Entering Year: 2015 What was your Question? How can we better communicate Science? What does a day-in-the-life look like for you? I actually made a video about this (here)! I am an artist full time so my days go to making projects. A lot of time is actually spent walking around with my notebook and thinking. I feel extraordinarily lucky in the day-in-the-life department currently. Every day, I try to practice writing, drawing, music, and sharing my work. I try not to put too much pressure on my output. I find that if I take care of my body well and stay with my practice, things continue to work out nicely. I love to collaborate with people – my days recently have been filled with a lot of play dates it feels like. Sitting on the floor singing into microphones and running around with video cameras. I can’t help myself but stay up really late on my laptop every night. I like to go out in nature during the day and then in the evenings I like to get super cozy and just absolutely hyper focus into digital space. That’s what I’m doing right now, but I’m starting to get really tired.  If you were to pick three things to devote most of your mental energy to, what would these three things be? Inventing time travel, making awesome videos, hanging out with my friends. What was the most enriching conversation you had recently? Who was it with and what was it about? I recently had a very interesting conversation with a new friend about the idea of a circumstance. What is in a circumstance? What is outside of a circumstance? What must change within or around a circumstance for the circumstance itself to change? A circumstance, it seems, is an incredibly fluid container. And, a circumstance is inherently bound by time. Therefore, to change a circumstance, one must change the bounds of a circumstance or the contents within a circumstance, meaning either zoom or out of time OR change some immediate environmental factor. A circumstance is a relationship between the moment and its container. How do circumstances interact? Do they overlap or push against each other? This is what I’m interested in right now. What is the most surprising element of your life and what is something that your life features that you could have predicted as a kid? The truth is I am having a very hard time thinking about any element of my life that is surprising and that may be because every part of my life right now is entirely surprising but also in a very big way, completely logical to the life that I’ve always wanted for myself. I’ve always been creative and experimental and therefore I have always operated my life like a kind of creative experiment. So naturally the big version of the thing is filled with identical fractions. I’ve been living in New York City for the past 6ish years – I suppose that is a surprise, or more specifically how much I grew to love New York. I got a job working for The New York Times right out of Quest so I graduated and started working next to Times Square 2 weeks later. That was like a terrifying movie. That was a very surprising turn of events. But going to Quest was also somewhat of a surprising turn of events. I think the truth is every day I’m still totally shocked by the strangeness of my reality. And also – of course! Any ongoing projects/activities that uplift your soul? Or what seems to uplift your soul these days? Creating things is always what makes me feel the best. I love taking photos and videos and taking time to observe the world. Listening makes me feel really good. I’ve been teaching animation courses and that has been very uplifting. Laying in the sunshine. Creating with my hands. Also I’ve been really enjoying typing lately. You press little buttons to make words. How fun is that! In your life, who is the happiest person you know and what do you pick up on most in this person (that suggests they are happy)? My sister seems happy to me in the sense that she is doing well. She always makes friends easily and seems to have no trouble at all navigating tensions of body and mind. I suppose it is a sense of ease that I am interpreting as happiness. I associate easiness with lightness and when I am happy I feel very very light. The happiest people I know are the ones who move with ease. Pick three words to describe your Quest experience. Miss, it, everyday When you gather with friends, what is your most favorite thing to do, as of late? With this question, feel free to share the quirky specifics, if these quirky specifics happen to exist. I really like to talk about ideas. I’m thinking about ideas all the time, so when I have friends who want to think about my ideas with me, I find that we can go much deeper into certain channels of inquiry. I also like making music with my friends. I also like playing games and putting on weird plays of sorts. Generally, I really really like to laugh. I enjoy pretty much any situation that is conducive to deep laughter. Like when we get to stop talking about ideas and just roll around on the floor. How do you decide what to eat for dinner or take for lunch? Walk us through your process. Eating dinner or lunch first requires me to realize that I am hungry. The truth is I usually eat one meal sort of in between lunch and dinner when it gets to the point where I can no longer concentrate on the thing I am meant to be focusing on. It’s a phase I thought I might grow out of but now I’m not particularly concerned with that because whatever I’m doing is keeping me alive just fine. I don’t really like using the stove. The thing is, everything I do I manage to do in the messiest way possible. I’ve never particularly taken to cooking, likely because I’ve never really taken to cleaning. The other truth of the matter is that I actually don’t mind. I am seriously totally fine eating cold soup and toast at 4pm. I actually really look forward to it and enjoy the way it tastes. That being said, I am forever indebted to my friends who cook for me. Thank you for reminding me of the wonderful pleasures of the world. In your opinion, what is the food/meal with the greatest texture? Please explain your choice. Beans probably have the greatest texture. I mean come on. They are like smooth and dense and starchy but sort of creamy also? Beans are like if bread and a nut had a cousin. I am not sure what’s going on with beans but they are wonderful.

Maï Yasué - Keeping up with the Kermodes

Current Location: Vancouver Entering Year: 2008 * Note on the following responses: Mai and I (Claire MacMurray) had the chance to chat over the phone recently. We talked about the questions below and this is my synthesis of what was shared (i.e. not all of these are verbatim Mai’s words but rather her overarching sentiments). If you had had a Question while at Quest, what would it have been? How do you create environments that support autonomous motivation? Some background on this question - I come from community-based conservation. In this world, it’s pretty evident that people/creatures have the motivation to create a context that supports the thriving of what you call self-transcendent values which are universalism, benevolence and self-direction, values that are about helping people beyond ourselves as well as personal growth, creativity, etc. Autonomous motivation, the motivation that likely underlies these self-transcendent values, is internal rather than taking the form of, “I need to make more money or I need to be better than that person”- these are extrinsic. People certainly have the ability to behave in a way that's in support of self-transcendent values. The idea is that we want more people to act in this way, but a lot of things prevent this from happening, right? That’s why this question is relevant. More autonomous motivation likely leads to us valuing the bigger (non-individual) causes. Check out these two links here for more background:  Theory of Basic Human Values Self-Determination Theory What does a day-in-the-life look like for you? I run the equivalent of a DEI office for the faculty of medicine at UBC. My job either consists of educational capacity building (e.g. drafting tip sheets on how to apologize when you hurt someone else) and/or addressing conflict, conflict resolution, and supporting people coming back together. I look at how conflicts arise out of the structure/process (and what implementing educational reform looks like). I am personally motivated to bring self-transcendent values into the framework within the faculty of medicine and this definitely comes into play in conflict resolution. I like to think about relationality, how much relationships matter, how to create space for relational ways of being (and how this space aids conflict resolution); this might be the part of the job that I might enjoy most at this time. I love the people that I work with. There are a lot of emotions, a lot of pain and hurt when you are doing this type of work because you are working with a whole lot of people who have been traumatized by the system. But despite that, I do seem to spend a lot of time laughing at all the things that are nonsensical and absurd in the work that I do and how we have managed to find so much connection with each other through these difficult moments... If you were to pick three things to devote most of your mental energy to, what would they be? How to humanize others How to create contexts where people think about humanizing others I want to spend more time thinking deeply about things versus strictly responding to emails I’d like to favor less reactive thoughts (i.e. slow down and think) especially when thinking about interpersonal conflicts What was the most enriching conversation you had recently? Who was it with and what was it about? One of the initiatives that our office runs is called the Indigenous Speaker Series. Most of the sessions are conversations between Derek Thompson a Nuuchahnulth hereditary chief & a lot of different Indigenous leaders. They 1) help us see a different model for leadership, one that is rooted in relationality, humility, authenticity, and 2) offer an Indigenous lens of historic/current events. We have also created opportunities for conversations amongst Indigenous families to come together and reconcile even within themselves. These conversations are super inspiring.   What is the most surprising element of your life and what is something that your life features that you could have predicted as a kid? Surprising: the job that I have now is something that didn’t exist as a kid; never imagined working in a faculty of medicine Not surprising: even as a kid, I’ve always been interested in social justice issues Any ongoing projects/activities that uplift your soul? Or what seems to uplift your soul these days? Going to the climbing gym with I-Chant and talking about life, our careers, and everything that inspires us: friendships, of course, helping each other figure out life   Working with so many different Indigenous staff and faculty has been really inspiring. Many of them are that generation who was the first to not go to residential schools, they are the ones who survived some of the trauma from their parents and are now doing all of this work to change colonial institutions and also work to heal themselves and their communities from the impacts of colonization.  In your life, who is the happiest person you know and what do you pick up on most in this person (that suggests they are happy)? My daughter - she is very present-focused! Pick three words to describe your Quest experience. Intense, relational, meaningful When you gather with friends, what is your favorite thing to do, as of late? With this question, feel free to share the quirky specifics, if they happen to exist. Climbing, skiing, writing papers, eating good Asian food, indulging in all the time that my friends and I have (especially now that my daughter is older) How do you decide what to eat for dinner or take for lunch? Walk us through your process. Very random. I open the fridge. No planning involved - maybe I should plan more…😉 In your opinion, what is the food/meal with the greatest texture? Please explain your choice. Hand-pulled Chinese noodles that Fei taught me how to make, also dumplings with wood ear mushrooms. I also really like the texture of stem lettuce and lotus.

Jesse Genereux - Keeping up with the Kermodes

Current Location: Hamilton, Ontario Entering Year: 2016 What was your Question?  My question was: “What is a good teacher?” I was interested in moral education (making better people, teacher of “the good”) as much as I was interested in the nature of the pedagogical relation.  What does a day-in-the-life look like for you?  A day in my life is hectic and honestly unbalanced. I am currently holding a full-time job as an Academic Quality Assurance Manager (recently finished an interim associate dean appointment) while pursuing a master’s degree in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster. The McMaster English department is a wonderful environment with a faculty and student body whose earnest interest in each other’s minds reminds me of the best parts of my Quest experience. As for a day-in-the-life, I wake up around 5 am and annotate readings on my tablet for my seminars on politics, literature and the Anthropocene. By 8 or 9, I am on campus reviewing my notes before engaging in seminar discussions. For work and between classes, I hop on Zoom to support the development of new degree programs for a private college in Toronto and a new university campus in Arizona. In the late afternoon and into the early evening, I teach two 1st-year undergraduate tutorials. I try to bring in the Quest spirit into these sessions, but they are only 50 minutes long and take place in traditional classroom-style setups, which limit the relationship and engagement possible. The hierarchy of the typical university experience is truly horrifying as a Quest alum. We were truly lucky to experience seminar-based instruction from day 1 through the 4th year. Throughout it all, I am downing 6-8 cups of coffee, either from home or from various sources of hot bean juice on campus. By 9pm, I am ready to leave campus and take the bus back to my graduate student residence. Before bed, I will do some studying, writing or catch up on the latest show on the Dropout streaming service. The best part of my day is getting to speak to Haby (Quest alum), with whom I continue to share my life.    If you were to pick three things to devote most of your mental energy to, what would they be?  I resonate with this question, as I’m sure many of you do, as our mental energies are commodities wrapped up in an exchange hard to visualize that rarely involves us. I’ll answer directly:  Wrapping my mind around the nature of ethical responsibility and its conditions. I would prefer to do so through poetry and philosophy. I feel this matter is pressing and if we can crack this nut, we might be able to help cultivate a more peaceful and just future. Working on my own poetry. Poetry is quickly becoming a meditative practice that is helping me understand myself, my past, and my relations. Creative life is one that I have neglected and seldom made time for. Actively connecting and reconnecting with friends. The pandemic and Quest’s ending fucked us up. There are so many of you I care about and think of regularly. I would like to reconnect and hear what you have been up to. I won’t make it to the reunion this year as I will be at a conference, so I’d like to spend more energy to deliberately reach out—not in a nostalgic manner, but to bear witness once again to the lives you live.  What was the most enriching conversation you had recently? Who was it with and what was it about?  Yesterday, I attended a talk by a prospective faculty member for a Canada Research Chair position in the department (Dr. Aguila-Way). As I eluded to, I am currently taking a course on the Anthropocene with my supervisor Dr. David Clark, along with another grad student and artist named Jay Pahre, who was in attendance. Dr Aguila-Way was presenting on her research regarding seed-saving as Indigenous epistemology-ontology. We had read some of the articles she cites (Vanessa Watts, for instance) in which the authors articulate a Haudenosaunee/Indigenous metaphysics which presents responsibility for non-human others originating from encounters with their agency. The kind of agency non-human others display is quite challenging to conceptualize, as is the nature of the responsibility arising from an encounter with such agency. For the Haudenosaunee people this is not difficult, but for settlers like me and Jay, it can be hard to process without reduction. I had a most enriching conversation with Jay about this. He had read an essay I had written grappling with this concept in which I had included images of the Squamish Estuary (included below).   /picture Jay patiently sympathized with my difficulty and generously offered a critique of my photography as a means of hinting at disjunction between the internal organization of my subjectivity and the subject of Place-Thought and non-human agency (definitely reach out to me for more elaboration here). He said to question the horizons, the straight lines of my images. As you can see above, I have many straight lines in my photo, and the horizon of landscapes often dominates the frame. An alternative would decenter this structure and focus instead on a web of relations (gradients, closeups, more creative approaches). Jay’s insight has made me question the centrality of the moment of signification – the moment when one “thing” becomes “another” – and instead think of “things” as one andwith the other (and therefore, better encounter non-human agency). Quite the enriching conversation. What is the most surprising element of your life and what is something that your life features that you could have predicted as a kid?  The most surprising element of my life was how naturally love came into it. There is chance to this, of course, and that is what I worried about a lot as a younger man. Before and during my Quest experience and even still today, I am a supremely anxious person. So, the fact that life brought me into the relationship I have and the very fact that I am not alone is really surprising to me. I think the stories that are told about love mischaracterize it. You do not fall into it. It isn’t a container into which one finds oneself with another, although there is some sense to it. If I were to keep the verb fall I might use the word “through”. The phrase “fall in love with” could be rephrased as “fall through love with”. This is what I mean by the word naturally. I didn’t know this and this revelation of love as something throughness is what surprised me. I found myself “in love” as it were, by being me with and for another. That being said, I could have predicted that I would be in academia. I didn’t expect to go farther than a bachelor’s, but I think I had a skewed understanding (as a kid) of what university was like. I didn’t grasp the progression. While I thought that I would have been done by now (I thought I would be a scientist by 30) the fact that I still am in academic environments and will be for the foreseeable future would not be surprising to little Jesse.   Any ongoing projects/activities that uplift your soul? Or what seems to uplift your soul these days?  I am producing a poetry chapbook (self-published booklet) with some colleagues in the McMaster English department that is shaping up to be very interesting. From illustrations to flash fiction and the traditional poetry that spans the space between, it is uplifting to bear witness to the meaning that others create. I also love going for walks, although the weather does not permit it these days. Something else I love is speaking to the other grad students in the department. All our offices are in the same hallway and sometimes we will stand in this hallway for an hour or so to just chat. Sharing a laugh with another is life-affirming in times like these.  In your life, who is the happiest person you know and what do you pick up on most in this person (that suggests they are happy)? This is a very hard question. The first person who came to mind is a man named Oscar. I worked with Oscar as his support aide in High School. Oscar was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, described as “moderate-severe” (whatever that means), and found it difficult to relate to others at our school (Moscrop Secondary in Burnaby). Oscar loved to wrestle, play badminton, and grab your shoulder. Oscar, when I knew him, had the loudest and most genuine laugh you could imagine. He taught me how to laugh, I think. It was this manner of laughter that suggested to me that he was happy. He had his struggles, but they were more frustrations imposed by the world than an inner angst which characterizes most people’s lives. Pick three words to describe your Quest experience.  Growth (keep sprouting)  Safety (intellectual, social)  Home (where I dwell)  When you gather with friends, what is your favorite thing to do, as of late? With this question, feel free to share the quirky specifics, if they happen to exist.  Jacob (Richardson), Charlotte, Gerhardt, AJ, Ty, and I have been playing a TTRPG online since the pandemic lockdown. All Quest students, I feel like this has been an anchor to a sense of continued community rooted in this shared experience. One of my favourite things that happens during these sessions is the memes and reactions to events occurring in the story posted to the OOC (out of character chat). Reaction gifs, jokes, and quips keep the overall experience light despite the narrative's often-heavy nature.  How do you decide what to eat for dinner or take for lunch? Walk us through your process.  If I eat lunch, it is whatever I can grab on campus. These days, more often it is a 5$ sandwich from the student union store that I add mustard, mayonnaise, pepper and some chips to. Sometimes it is a granola bar, some chili or random pastry to keep me going. If I am at home and have planned properly, I will have some Costco quinoa salad in a croissant with some rotisserie chicken and hot sauce. I did make some pea soup with homemade bone broth, but this was an anomaly. As much as I would like to make better food, it simply is not a priority for me when I live alone.   In your opinion, what is the food/meal with the greatest texture? Please explain your choice.  Pickled pearl onions have the best texture. Perfect balance of crunch and softness. I also feel like the acidity of the brine contributes to the experience of texture, adding a bit of sharpness to the crunch that I feel is very satisfying.

2026 Seeking Treasurer to Join the Board

Board Treasurer Quest University Canada Alumni Association Volunteer position | Remote-friendly | Alumni & friends welcome The Quest University Canada Alumni Association (QUCAA) is seeking a Treasurer to join our Board of Directors. This is a volunteer role for someone who wants to support the alumni community and help steward the association’s finances with care, clarity, and integrity. You don’t need to be an accountant — just organized, reliable, and comfortable working with numbers at a high level. What You’ll Do As Treasurer, you’ll help ensure the association remains financially healthy and transparent. Responsibilities include: Overseeing QUCAA’s finances and bank accounts Preparing and presenting clear financial updates to the Board Supporting annual budgeting and financial planning Working with the Board on funding, grants, and fundraising initiatives Ensuring basic financial policies and reporting are followed You won’t be doing this alone — this is a collaborative role, supported by the Board President. Time Commitment Approximately 2–4 hours per month Attend bi-monthly Board meetings as well as a bi-monthly Finance Team meeting (virtual) Some light preparation outside meetings (financial review, email coordination) Who This Is For This role may be a great fit if you: Enjoy bringing order and clarity to systems Appreciate thoughtful, values-driven collaboration Have experience with budgeting, bookkeeping, finance, or governance (formal or informal) Want to give back to the Quest community in a meaningful, behind-the-scenes way Alumni and non-alumni are both welcome to apply. Why Join the Board? Help shape the future of the alumni association Build governance and leadership experience Contribute to a mission-driven, intellectually curious community Stay connected to the spirit and community of Quest Interested? We’d love to hear from you. Please email exec@questalumni.ca with a brief note about your background and interest in the role. This is an unpaid, volunteer Board position.

Our 2025 AGM was a success!

On November 30th, 2025 we hosted our Annual General Meeting! The Annual General Meeting covered a wide range of topics and it was a fruitful opportunity to reflect on the past year and regroup in planning for the next. Furthermore, we are incredibly excited in welcoming 3 new Directors to the Board! Please join us in welcoming Aisha Balint, Caleb Tomlinson & Darwyn Moffat-Mallett. Wondering what was discussed at the AGM? Here are a few ways to catch up! Watch the AGM Recording: Read the AGM Meeting Minutes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IvuEAE8O7yuDjLOLeN_UyHFPs1066RUJeyO3JSI_qg4/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome Oliver!

6 months ago, our friend Josie decided to step down from the Alumni Association's Board. In such a case, our bylaws allow the remaining Board to temporarily appoint a new Director, until the next AGM. We are very happy to announce that Oliver Snow has joined our ranks in this manner. As a Board member, he will primarily help us liaise with the Quest University Action Group (QUAG). His position will be reviewed a like any other's by all members at our next AGM, on November 30th, 2025. Hello Quest Alumni!  My name is Oliver Snow and I graduated from Quest in 2013, which is so wild that it's been over 12 years already. My question was "What is the relationship between brain and behaviour?" – I studied mostly neuroscience, molecular biology, and mathematics at Quest.  I then moved to Stockholm, Sweden for two years to do my master's in computational biology and then came back to Vancouver and got my PhD in Computer Science, focusing on using machine learning in cancer research and the life sciences. I now work for Miraterra, an Agritech startup in Vancouver that is working on new methods for soil analysis to improve soil health and make agriculture more sustainable.  I have been back living in Squamish for the last 5 years and I spend my spare time with my two young daughters (3yo and 5mo) as well as biking, skiing and doing all the fun Squamish outdoors stuff.  I'm excited to join the QUCAA, reconnect to the Quest community, and lend a hand to ongoing efforts to expose and get some justice for the past mismanagement of Quest and its finances.  Cheers,  Oliver

Seattle Chapter - Wine & Cheese

A lovely Wine & Cheese took place earlier this year in Seattle! What a great opportunity to reconnect and catch-up. We love to see it happen and thank you SaraMae Kline & Isaac Menninga for bringing this idea to life! ❤️

Elly Grant - Keeping up with the Kermodes

Current location: Banff, Alberta, Canada Year I entered Quest: 2014 One of my favourite classes that I took and why: Beadwork and Social Activism – to my knowledge this was one of few courses facilitated by an Indigenous tutor at Quest– taught by Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé. As an artist I appreciated having hands-on, creative activities interwoven with coursework. I’ve continued beading since taking the course too. I’m grateful for the course teachings as a precursor to supporting Indigenous communities through my role at Banff Centre, where I get to witness beautiful beadwork in action on the daily. Question I am currently pursuing: How do I maintain creative practice? You will all remember me as the ‘Double Dipped girl’ in my later years at Quest. I made hundreds of up-cycled T-shirts, hoodies, and hats (some of which ended up as FREE in the Re- Use-It Centre!). I have been thinking a lot about time and energy for creative work– how these things looked and felt different just a few short years ago and were more accessible even during a busy school schedule. My business popped off during COVID, which, while fun for a short period, ultimately led to burnout, tendonitis in my wrists, and the need to re-evaluate how much time I was spending making things for others without enough space to take care of myself. Sewing is a sitting-down sport after all. So, while I still do the odd market from time to time, I am in a process of reimagining my sewing practice and how to balance / contribute my creative energy in all facets of life. Life now: I am working a classic 9-5 office job (are you surprised, because I am, ha-ha) and I work part-time at a vintage clothing store in town. I have been spending a lot of time cooking and making recipes (creative!); I’ve started making kefir from scratch and tending to it every evening. I sew when I have time, have been sending/receiving mail art to artists all over the world, and rehabbing my broken ankle. :( Most generous thing someone has done for me (and vice versa): When I was in France in 2023, I was stuck in a small town without my passport and had to leave a bad Workaway situation (long story, lesson learned). A local woman I’d met, Sylvie, was kind enough to take me in for an evening, even though her 80-year-old father was visiting and staying in her tiny home. I ended up sharing the pullout couch with Sylvie and her 5 cats (one of them hairballed on me in the middle of the night). Sylvie woke me up early the next morning to drive me to the bus station an hour away despite having a fear of driving due to a previous accident. She packed me a bag of plums for my bus journey and made sure I got back to the city safely. Merci Sylvie! As for me, I practice generosity daily – I remember lending my car to a Quest student for two months while I was away for a semester. I connected friends solo travelling in Italy last year, and they ended up hiking together in the Dolomites. I think so many are afraid of generosity for fear of giving up their pride or independence. I see it is an integral part of relationship building, without second thoughts something to embody always. To me, generosity is at the core of creating connections, and to that, I find great joy in doing so. Favourite summertime activity / three words that define the summer for me: Without broken ankle – backpacking trips, long hikes in the alpine, being in a lake. With broken ankle (this summer) – fishing, car camping, hammocking. Most fond summertime memory from my childhood: We used to go to a lakeside campsite (my grandparents used to run a Jewish summer camp in Northern Ontario, so the old camp property) and the lake had amazing clay deposits. My brother and I used to cover ourselves head to toe in the clay, lay out in the sun on a giant rock to let it dry, and then wash the clay off hours later. Who needs expensive skincare when you have free lake clay – natural exfoliant! Thing that has surprised me most lately: How much life changes once you reach 30! A cliché, but truly: I feel more relaxed and trusting of life. Fireside discussion theme that I’d like to explore with fellow Questies: What can a Master’s degree really teach you / prepare you for? And what working environment do the skills learned in grad school thrive best in? Corporate, non-profit, small business, self- employed, etc? Best thing I’ve made/had for dinner recently: My take on vada pav – an Indian streetfood/potato dumpling – I make these using mashed potatoes, minced turmeric rice and spinach, minced sauteed mushrooms, tofu, and shredded carrots in cumin and coriander, you could throw cilantro, green peas, in. I form everything into one mixture and fry them in butter or ghee. Full recipe available upon request! Emotion that I am valuing most right now and why: Not an emotion per se, but I am valuing the ability to uphold balance when facing problems, solutions, opinions, and multitudes of perspectives. Three items that I ALWAYS keep in my fridge/pantry: 1. Frozen bananas 2. Cocoa 3. Tea Last thing that has sparked my curiosity most greatly: I have been taking singing lessons weekly and while I imagined the experience to be about training voice and the physicality of singing, I have been surprised to learn it is as much a test of confidence, embodiment, and performance.

Daniel Ellis - Keeping up with the Kermodes

Current location: London! Let me know when you’re in town and we’ll go for a pint. Year I entered Quest: 2016 (January) - Squamish was sunny and cold and beautiful. Almost 10 years ago now, it was a different town then, you could stuff your face on Sushi for 10 bucks, there was only 2-3 restaurants you’d actually want to eat at, and it was always easy to find parking on Cleveland. Favourite class: This is a tough question because I really loved the classes I took. I think I have to pick Afrofuturism with Tobias van Veen. It was such an unusual topic to study, but so mind bending, magical and entertaining. Tobias delivered every class like it was his last, he cared so much about the content, and you could tell he loved teaching. Part of the reason I have to pick this class is because it introduced me to the idea of speculative fiction which was the genre of my keystone. Without discovering speculative fiction I think it would have been hard for me to get into my grad school — it allowed me to do something interesting in the field of design without much technical design experience. I was accepted onto a program at Central Saint Martins at the University of Arts London studying under the top academic in speculative design. I’m not really interested in speculative fiction anymore, but I’m grateful for all the time I spent enjoying it. Question I am currently pursuing: I’ve always got a few on the go, but my career ones are: "How can we decarbonise the material world?” + “How can Josh Visser and I sell a million copies of Cambio: Into the Wild (our card game)”. After studying Industrial Design I did two things 1) bizarrely I got a job as a “Speculative Designer” which I is a job title even the most optimistic in the field didn’t think they would ever see on a job board 2) I won a grant to launch my start-up Decarbonite, its a sustainable building material I developed during my time at grad school, and later patented. We’re still following Decarbonite down some interesting rabbit holes...but I won’t say more than that. I quit my job as a Speculative Designer and now I work for a climate change think tank called Systemiq, I work in the “Materials” division doing research, writing reports and advising companies and governments (for the past year mostly on how to eliminate plastic waste). But the thing I am most excited about right now is a card game I launched with Josh Visser called Cambio: Into the Wild. It’s available in 20-30 stores in Canada, US and UK. We’re always stoked to see Questies enjoying the game, and if you know any retailers, let us know! Most generous thing someone has done for me: Everything my family has done for me, no doubt. Most generous thing I have done for someone: Omg hard question! I am the only person in my house of 5 that cleans out the shower drain, it’s super gross and I never ask anyone else to do it. It’s difficult, but when I need motivation I just think, what would Mother Teresa do... Favourite summertime activity: At the moment PICKLEBALL, we are addicted over here. It’s not as trendy as Padel, but tbh I’m fine with that, the courts are never busy and they are £4 for the hour. Of course I miss hanging out at river spots in BC. We go down to Cornwall a lot in the UK to surf, and I did that a lot as a kid too. Cornwall has a lot of “Pastys” which are basically big empanadas, perfect post-surf. Thing that surprised me lately: I was in Brazil earlier this year, we visited an old flour mill in the jungle, and there was a family there selling preserves, hot sauce and alcohol. One of the men said, "do you want a guide to take you on a hike to the water fall”, and I said, “yeah that sounds good”. He pointed at a dog who was waiting at the trail head, and said “he’ll take you”. None of us could believe it, but the dog took us on the trail, he stopped at all the forks in the trail to make sure we didn't go the wrong way, and he took us back, it was crazy! Fireside discussion topic that I’d like to have: Hard question, lots of topics to choose from. I think most people aren’t really taking AI seriously enough. I know that must sound odd because the whole world is talking about AI right now, but mostly in a superficial way about the present or the next year or two. I think we have important questions to ask ourselves about the next 3-5+ years. If we were at Quest, the fireside chat would either be about how we should learn and be evaluated in class now we have AI OR what does AI mean for our careers/meaning of life? I’m not sure there are perfect answers to these questions, and the answers can be quite personal, making them good fireside chat topics. Best dinner as of recent: I was in Italy recently with my Brazilian family. We had a BBQ and it was amazing. Contrary to popular belief, eating out in Italy is actually pretty hit and miss, and there's a lot of disappointing food around. But the produce from your average Italian supermarket is unbelievable, you eat a tomato and you realise you’ve never tasted tomato before. If you can cook, I think eating at home in Italy is often the best! Best caf meal: One time we arrived on campus early for res council orientation, and it was when the new caf company had just been hired. This lady, (I can't remember her name), made a beef roast with all the trimmings, horseradish sauce, roasted potatoes etc. Honestly it was amazing by any standards. It was quite funny actually for a meal that good to be in the caf. Unpopular opinion, I actually think the caf was often pretty good. Emotion that I value most right now: Fun/playfulness/joy. I’m 30 now, life got too serious too quickly, I just wanna play video games, skateboard, and party! Three food items that I always keep on hand: MANGO CHUTNEY / HARISSA / CHINESE CHILLI OIL. BUT there is one thing missing which even millions of dollars cannot buy which is Varsha’s spruce syrup. Someone please bring it for me!! Thing that sparked my curiosity last: I’ve been listening to a lot of physics podcasts recently, and there are still some pretty big mysteries out there! Why are there no aliens? How is the expansion of the universe accelerating? Black holes? WTF?! I need a quest class! Love you all and miss you!

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The monthly donations cover the basic costs of running QUCAA and increase our ability to support and connect members in a financially sustainable way. ‍Our fundraising goal has increased with the capacity of the organisation. Since 2025, we also accept one-time donations which will be attributed following the same model. This campaign follows the 'jar-runneth-over' model: each donation adds to a common fund which is earmarked to the area of greatest need in priority. Once the highest priority is covered for the year, donations 'overflow' into the second highest priority, and so on, until all expenditure areas are covered. Each year, the Board of Directors of the QUCAA prioritise expenditures for the coming year. Through this campaign, QUCAA has raised over CAD$8,000 from members. Most of this amount was matched by a personal donation from Dr. Marjorie Wonham, former faculty and president of Quest University. Thanks to these donationas QUCAA has sustained independently and grown its capacity to represent and serve Alumni. More specifically, we were able to: 1. Cover our annual operating costs — e.g. nonprofit registration, website hosting, digital workspace and cloud storage, etc.‍ 2. Pay back our early board members who paid for our operating costs over the past 4 years (thank you!). 3. Hire an administrative assistant part-time, to increase our capacity and consistency as an organisation

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