Proudly Lab: Alumni Highlight Series - Alex Quist ’12
Alex Quist ’12 reflects on her Lab experience as one shaped by teamwork, creativity, and growth rather than accolades alone. Today, she brings that same mindset to her work in emergency medicine as a trauma professional and longtime volunteer EMT.
When Alex Quist (nee Hollar) looks back on her time at The Lab School of Washington, she fondly remembers the athletics program, the arts courses, and the opportunities for travel. A four-year Girls’ Varsity Basketball team member, Alex was a Lab leading scorer, MVP, and Female Athlete of the Year. Her skills and sportsmanship were also recognized at the league level; she was named to the ISSAC First Team All League and to the MISAL Second Team All League, and she was League Player of the Year in both the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons. Recently, when reflecting on her basketball experiences at Lab, Alex didn’t mention these accolades that she received. Instead, she focused on the team’s growth that allowed them to secure the league championship both her junior and senior years. Alex has always been a quiet leader with a gracious personality and a growth mindset.
Alex joined the Lab community in 8th Grade. Each year, she enjoyed the connections that developed with teachers, and the art classes with Mark Jarvis were always among her favorites. Alex appreciated how Mr. Jarvis listened to the students’ ideas and helped them determine how to bring their ideas to fruition, all while advising and encouraging them to try new techniques. A serious student who was always open to new experiences, Alex was selected to join Lab’s first three international trips – to Costa Rica in 2010, to China in 2011, and to England & France in 2012.
With her involvement in so many aspects of Lab life and natural ability to relate to others, Alex was often called on to serve as an ambassador, meeting with educators who would tour the school, prospective students and their parents, and other guests. As a senior, Alex visited with our Lower School students during Learning Differences Awareness Month, sharing the importance of believing in yourself, advocating for what you need, and finding your strengths.
Following graduation from Lab in 2012, Alex studied at Roanoke College and Northern Virginia Community College, in addition to working as a buyer for Whole Foods, a pre-school teacher, and a nanny. Two experiences, though, proved pivotal in her decision to ultimately pursue a career in emergency medicine. First was a lifeguarding course with Angelo Carmina and Micky Tadesse during her senior year at Lab, where she learned CPR, used the AED, and practiced water rescues. Second was the opportunity to do an ambulance “ride-along” with the Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department (AVFRD) in Virginia. Alex soon began volunteering with them and quickly set her sights on working in a hospital. To reach that goal, Alex furthered her experience in the field by working for a doctor specializing in gastro-intestinal issues and next with a family medicine practice. She then became a certified emergency medical technician (EMT).
Alex now works with critical patients in the trauma bay at INOVA Loudoun Emergency Department and is in her ninth year of volunteering with AVFRD. She loves learning and is continuing her education in order to earn her Advanced EMT Certification; this will allow her to utilize more of the life-saving apparatuses on the ambulances, such as the McGRATH video laryngoscope.
When thinking about how her time at Lab has carried into her career, Alex immediately identifies the confidence, self-awareness, and advocacy skills she gained as a student, a student-athlete, and a traveler. She still lives by the understanding that “our learning differences require different skills but it isn’t going to slow us down.”
Alex and her husband Matt, whom she met through AVFRD, have two adorable children – four-year-old Hank and one-year-old Zoe. They live in Winchester, Virginia.
