After four years on the hill, members the graduating class of 2012 will be going their separate ways.
Quest University honoured the 45 students who made up the school's second grad class at a ceremony at the Quest library on Saturday (April 28).
"Welcome to the first-ever second Quest graduation ceremony," joked Glen Van Brummelen, the Master of Ceremonies for the event."
It also marked the first time ever that Quest alumni were present as graduates from last year filled several of the seats to recognize some of their classmates and friends.
The brand new chancellor, Dr. Daniel Birch, was also introduced to the audience and was installed in his new position. Birch will serve at least a three-year term with Quest and said he's looking forward to working with the faculty and students at the school.
"I worked in second-as-command to David Strangway [former UBC president] for 12 years at UBC and I never thought I'd continue to follow in his footsteps," he said. "But I'm happy to do so."
Birch said he was a member of a group of visiting experts to observe life at Quest a couple of years ago and was impressed with what he saw.
"At the end of the day one of my colleagues said, 'It's been an interesting day,'" he said. "Another said, 'I wouldn't say interesting but inspirational.' I promise I will do my best to uphold these inspirational ideals that we share in this wonderful university."
Graduating class speaker Kaltrina Kusari, who came to Quest from Kosovo, spoke of the maturation of herself and her fellow classmates during their time at the school.
"If I was asked to come up with some words to describe us on the first day of school at Quest, I'd say confused, unaware and naïve," she said. "But we've grown together, we've built clubs, made changes and have become fully aware of what we want to and can do. This journey has not been an easy one but we've enjoyed every part of it. After four years at Quest I'd now use words like happy, confident and ready to describe us."
Quest president Dr. David Helfand boasted about the high rankings the school has received in recent North American survey results, but said it's all about the students. He noted that a recent survey found that 84 per cent of Quest students ask questions in class compared to only 26 per cent in other schools.
"These students make us No. 1," he said.
Those graduating students came from eight different countries, four U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, proving the unique international flavour of Quest.
For more information on Quest University, visit www.questu.ca.
