Bradford College

Date: Aug 20 2008
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
Although Bradford College in Haverhill, MA is currently closed I feel that I need to write this review to stand up for it. I don't understand the rating that Bradford College poor. The point being that Bradford College was a great college. It was around for nearly 200 years! If that doesn't say anything I don't know what else does.

As far as education is concerned, granted Bradford didn't have a big name, but that's because it was overshadowed by the large Universities in the area. The student body at it's peek was abou 500 students. So this allowed for small class sizes. The professors were always approachable and dedicated to the education of their students along with a wealth of knowledge. They spoke candidly of the outside world and that it wasn't as sweet and innocent as High School made it out to be. The would give you personal guidance and tell you personal stories of their expierences. They were guides for you, not care takers. They even became friends with many of the students and are still today. Granted some majors shined more then others. But Bradford College even went as far as letting you build your own major if you didn't like any of the ones offered.

The student body may have been small but it was mighty. We were one of the most politically active campuses in the 1990s. Furthermore because of it's small size you got to know everyone. Personally coming from a large highschool where you are treated as a number, this is a refreshing change! Everyone I met was open minded, polite, and willing to go the extra mile for you. You weren't just students, you were family. You lived, ate, studied, joked around, and partied with eveyone. Additionally being such a small campus, it was amazing the countries that were represented here. Approximately 33 countries at Bradford's peek! Also students from all walks of life were represented here: white, black, spanish, male, female, straight, gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, religious, non-religious, liberal, conservative, sports playing, book readers, video gamers, etc. These are just some of the examples of people that were living there. It's a real eye opener. I never once found the student body to be snooty or close minded, another refreshing thing. Personally Bradford changed my views on a lot of different types of people that I wasn't exposed to before. It also gave me faith in humanity again. Entering a friendly, fun loving, easy going, liberal minded atmosphere compared to where I came from was a refreshing change.

Granted Bradford, MA may not be to the "nicest" place to live. It's an older mill town, but I feel its a diamond in the rough. First off it's only about 40 minuets from Boston. Secondly it has all the major stores that one would look for in order to live. The environment is safe. The water is clean. There is plenty of jobs to be had and food to be purchased. It's not overly expensive to live in. It has plenty of history to offer and public services to take advantage of. There were great places for hikes, skiing, swimming, working out and so on…I found plenty of things to do and never felt like I was stranded in some far away place.

In closing Bradford was awesome. Probably the best college there ever was! I think I can speak for the majority of the student body when I say that it was a life changing expierence for the better, I can't picture my life with out a Bradford Chapter. Frankly it's too bad that other colleges don't adapt a simular way of life. I can attribute my success socially, professionally, and personally to Bradford.