13 / KEYSTONE
Throughout their third and fourth years, Quest students create a project called a Keystone. A hybrid between a bachelor’s thesis and a senior project, the Keystone gives students a chance to show off their skills, get into the details of what they are learning, and work creatively with their interests. Each project is unique to the student, and their Question. The Keystone doesn’t aim to answer the Question – instead, it’s an in-depth exploration of the topics captured by the Question.
Students have done everything from conducting original research to building a climbing gym on our campus for their Keystone. Our students have created a program to foster community cohesion, researched investment in petroleum in Alberta’s oil sands, designed a video game to test how games create meaning for viewers, explored the effectiveness of maternal health programs in Squamish, and filmed and directed a documentary on the experience of Chinese-Canadians in Vancouver, BC.
Many students go on to use their Keystones post-Quest. One example is Veronica Galvin, a Quest alumna. She is currently a PhD Candidate at Yale, studying neuroscience, a field she explored extensively with her Keystone. Ellie reflected on her Keystone research project at the BC Children’s Hospital and the valuable experience that it brought her.
Quest students use the Keystone project to apply the skills and knowledge they’ve learned during their time at Quest, while exploring how they might interact with a topic, field of interest, or future career. It’s a great way to end the Quest education, and an excellent stepping stone for the future.