New students on the quest to make friends need look no further than .
As the 2010 academic year beckons, QUEST is welcoming new exchange and international students to sign-up and take part in its organised social events.
President Dana Nipperess said the society was also open to locals interested in meeting students from overseas.
鈥淎nyone who is interested in meeting new people, making life long friends from around the world and having some fun should join,鈥� Ms Nipperess said.
鈥淲e have a huge amount of Australian students who are as excited about meeting 国产探花鈥檚 international students as the internationals are about meeting us.
鈥淟ocal students are famously the hardest friends to make on an exchange, but are often the most valuable as they can really introduce you to the country鈥檚 culture and city as insiders.鈥�
QUEST has organised a range of social events, allowing its members to get to know their adopted city while making new friends.
Parties, weekends away, day trips, Indigenous cultural demonstrations, movie nights and drink nights all feature on the 2010 calendar.
鈥淥ur events are a great way to see Brisbane and the South East Queensland area and will often be significantly cheaper as well,鈥� Ms Nipperess said.
鈥淲e really are one of the most multicultural groups on campus.
鈥淓vents like our multicultural picnic will highlight this and focus on sharing cultures beyond just discovering Australia.鈥�
QUEST was inspired by Ms Nipperess鈥檚 own exchange experience 鈥� she spent a year at Glasgow University and was impressed with the support offered to students from overseas.
鈥淲hen you're on exchange you have to make friends quite quickly and the Glasgow University International Society was the way we all did that and survived what would be a pretty tough time otherwise,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen I got back to Brisbane last semester I was really keen to join 国产探花鈥檚 equivalent of the International society so I could keep meeting new people from all around the world and tell foreigners about all my favourite things in Brisbane.
鈥淲hen I found out there wasn't an equivalent group I figured that there had to be other returned Aussie exchange students who felt the same way as me so started QUEST.鈥�
Anyone interested in joining QUEST can visit its or email questsociety@gmail.com.
Media: Dana Nipperess (0450 718 657, questsociety@gmail.com) or Penny Robinson at 国产探花 Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
