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A couple of summers ago, one intern described the job of a student engagement professional as that of creating side quests for students. This thoughtful quip, while humorous and whimsical, proved deeply meaningful when engaged around the idea of a “side quest.” Simply put, his idea was founded on the idea that, in role playing video and tabletop games, there is a main quest that the character is pursuing, and there are side quests that are “optional tasks or missions that add depth, character development, and sometimes a dash of humor or creativity” (Harris, 2025, para. 1). To this young man, as students are engaging in the main quest toward their degree, student life professionals create side quests, or opportunities, that students can take that provide them with extra development, new resources or tools, and other benefits that can help them better achieve their main quest goal.
What is a Side Quest?
Some things to remember about side quests, or the activities/experiences that student development professionals design for students, include:
- Side quests are secondary to the main quest; they are not the main quest.
- Side quests are pursued alongside, or during breaks from, the main quest; they are not pursued in place of the main quest.
- Side quests offer students opportunities to complete, or add, additional storyline (or dad lore, as one other student has loved to term it – but this is a different article feature for another time), personal development, or additional mechanics and tools to use along the way.
- Side quests are optional, but they add depth to the student’s story.
- Side quests are usually initiated by a non-player character (such as the Resident Director or Assistant Dean) or a challenge (maybe a class assignment, group project, or involvement in student leadership) (Editorial Team, 2025).
A Quick Side Quest to Define the Main Quest
In order to understand the side quest idea, it is imperative that the idea of the main quest is understood, since this is the storyline the main character, or the student, will spend the majority of their time seeking to complete. The goal of the college experience for students, per Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) seven vectors, is that the student becomes a fully realized, integrated, and self-directed person, or “hero”. The student is not just a collection of stats or skills (think abilities and levels of competence), but a person whose actions are congruent with their values, whose purpose and goals are clear, who is firm and established in their identity, and has developed deep and meaningful relationships with others.
Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development
No matter what the side quest is or who provides it, the opportunities student development professionals offer students are directly linked to student development theory. For instance, consider the Seven Vectors in Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development.
Chickering’s Theory of Identity Development includes seven vectors, or distinct areas, of development that students progress through, backward or forward, throughout their college experience until they achieve an integrated identity. The vectors, in the concept presented in this article, represent the main storyline of the student, or the main quest of the college experience. These vectors, representing a “comprehensive picture of psychosocial development” (Evans et al., 2010, p. 67) during college, are:
- Developing Competence
- Managing Emotions
- Moving Through Autonomy Toward Interdependence
- Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships
- Establishing Identity
- Developing Purpose
- Developing Integrity
Since side quests involve tasks, stages, or challenges that the main character engages in aside from the main storyline, they fit the overall structure of student development theories as the ways in which students engage in development. These challenges must be overcome before the student can advance, and often these tasks help equip them to move through the stages of their identity development (think of gaining a new level and upgrading your stats or getting access to a new skill set).
Chickering’s vectors are the overall developmental goals the student is striving toward throughout their college experience, like the main quest objectives that unfold one at a time. The side quests are the individualized experiences that the student engages in that contribute to their progress on the main quest, helping them to progress through some vectors more quickly, or enabling them to spend time in a vector that the main quest has not given opportunity to.
For example, joining a new student organization is a side quest (not a mandatory part of the storyline) that can lead a student to learn new skills and work with others on a team, or develop competence and mature interpersonal relationships. Or, living in the residence hall and working with their RA to engage in managing roommate conflict, another side quest, can challenge the student in learning to manage their emotions.
Completing side quests and ultimately the main storyline will aid students in achieving their ultimate level of identity, purpose, sense of integrity, etc. Side quests provide substance to the story, which could otherwise take the character from point A (orientation) to point B (graduation) without much depth. Instead, side quests will allow for the student to be appropriately challenged and supported, shaped and molded, and ushered forward to become a person they never thought possible (much like the Game Master ushers his players through a well-crafted storyline). By the end of the campaign to earn the degree, the character will be ready for the chapter that comes next.
References
- Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity. Jossey-Bass.
- Editorial Team. (2025, May 5). What is a side quest? Definition & explanation. G2A. https://www.g2a.com/news/glossary/what-is-a-side-quest-definition-explanation/
- Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd Ed.). Jossey-Bass. Harris, D. (2025, October 8). Side quest meaning: The journey beyond the main plot. Adazing. https://www.adazing.com/side-quest-meaning/
