It's early in the season, still, but Radford University's campus has already seen a fairly full summer.

Across the past month, the school's main grounds and its Roanoke site hosted visits by some 1,900 incoming students, as well as nearly 2,500 of their relatives, guardians and friends.

Those 4,400 guests all came for Quest, Radford's streamlined and multifaceted orientation program, which ramped up on June 5 and was concluded by July 1.

Quest gives freshmen and new transfers a chance to dip their toes into the waters of college life and check the temperature a little; to find the currents and map the shallows before they have to swim.

They get acquainted with the campus and its locations, finalize their schedules, meet with others - faculty, deans, advisors and fellow students - and are issued that all-important piece of plastic, their student ID cards.

Friends and family, meanwhile, get tours as well, but they also attend information sessions about university services, public safety policies, financial aid and the ground rules behind such factors as meal plans and parking; it's an opportunity to ask key questions, face-to-face, rather than over the phone or by email.

As director of Student Connection Programs, Jason Lucas, M.S. '13, has coordinated Quest twice a year since 2015.

He started at a time when the event's staffers still used walkie-talkies to communicate across campus, but the program has now evolved to the point where new arrivals can follow QR codes to access information on their own, through the school's Navigate360 app.

This spring, Lucas' job took on an added and more personal component - one of the freshmen is his youngest daughter, Lili Belle, who's excited to start studying art.

Lucas himself earned his Master of Science in educational technology from Radford, and a few years ago, another of his daughters, Arie, went through orientation and is now starting her senior year as a tourism major.

Being a Highlander parent of current students, he said, "makes me think, 'What would they like to experience in their Quest day?'"

That kind of focused approach, Lucas believes, is just part of Radford's culture of care.

"I've talked to a lot of parents at Quest, and a lot of them feel that their students are in good hands," he explained. "You definitely see parents feeling good because everybody they talk to here is so confident, they know what they're doing.

"The handoff is really good, really strong."

A lot of lifting gets done by Radford's Quest assistants - the roughly 50 students who lead tours, dispense information and even perform, flash-mob-style, to kick off the sessions. They train for two weeks in advance and put in six weeks of work.

"It's a very competitive position, because this year we had over 200 people apply, and with our returning staff we only had about 20 spots open, so only one in 10 were chosen," he said.

"Something I've really worked on over the past few years is letting students know that they are going to get something from doing this. It's not just a summer job. They're going to get leadership; they're going to get mentorship; they're going to be a part of this family forever."

Felixia Brooks '26, a music therapy major from Norfolk, Virginia, has been a Quest Assistant for the past two years and said she likes being a part of new students' journeys.

"Apart from Highlander Day, Quest is the first program where they get to see what Radford is, and see the people of Radford," Brooks explained. "Being in the program and leading all the groups around, just hyping them up for their next four years, it was very fun to do.

"You get to see all the potential that walks in, and you get to see their eyes light up," she continued. "That sounds very cliché, but I'm so serious. You really see the light in their eyes."

Another longtime Quest Assistant, Jessica Handy '26, of Vesta, Virginia, said she often forms a rapport with incoming students who are the first in their families to attend college.

"I myself am a first-generation student, and when I was in their shoes, I was like, 'What am I doing? This place isn't for me,'" recalled Handy, who in May completed her undergraduate degrees in psychology and math and who was one of 11 Dean's Scholar Recipients; next month, she will enter a Ph.D program in quantitative psychology.

"When I'm with my Quest students and their families, I really try to home in on the fact that higher education really is for everyone. I know it may seem inaccessible, but … it really can be for anyone, if you want it to be."

On June 23, as one of the final Quest sessions got underway, one school official gave freshmen and their families an apt summation of the program itself, along with some perspectives on how to approach it.

"Quest is more than just an orientation experience," Assistant Provost for Student Success Jerel Benton told the crowd. "It's your official introduction, as an enrolled student, to Radford.

"It's a time to ask questions, and we want you to explore resources, meet students and begin forming relationships that will carry you through your academic journey," Benton said.

"We want you to be curious, we want you to be courageous and, at the end of the day, we want you to trust the process."