Tracy Bradley: helping others get fit, enjoying Boston

Tracy Bradley

Ithaca College, clinical exercise physiology major, graduated May 2009

Current hometown: Boston, Mass.

Age: 26

Live at home/rent/buy your own home? I rent.

Current job? I’m a personal trainer at Healthworks Fitness in Copley Square in Boston.

Enjoy what you do? I love what I do and really enjoy having the freedom now to make my own schedule and control my hours each week.

Major milestones the last four years: I went out on a limb and moved to the city by myself not knowing anyone here after graduation for a job as the assistant fitness director at the Healthworks Back Bay club. I have worked at Healthworks for four years and now work as a full-time personal trainer and really love living in the city.

If you’re comfortable sharing, how much college debt are you still carrying? None.

So, the big question: Was it worth it? Absolutely, not just for the education, but learning the importance of hard work and the discipline of time management between studies, playing a sport and having a social life.

Is your job now related to your major? Yes.

Please finish this sentence: “When it came to college, my parents were right about . . .” . . . making sure to take advantage of all the resources your school has to offer, especially utilizing the career center. You are constantly around experts in your field of practice and have lots of opportunities through work study or internships to get involved in learning as much as you can about your field of work. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

And: “My parents were wrong about . . .” . . . not much!

What are you hoping for as you look out over the next 10 years? Eventually, I would like to open my own training studio and create my own brand and training philosophy that I can market to the general population to help improve the overall health of the average population.

Do you feel your college experience plays any role in those goals? Yes. College teaches you how to be independent and driven to achieve your goals through hard work, staying focused and never settling for average!

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Since the Sun Journal stopped following the original 15 students in our “Following the Freshmen” series in 2009, bringing to a close our four-year college project, they’ve established interesting lives, careers and pursuits. And gained a lot of perspective on the value of their educations. We were able to catch up with 11 former freshmen and quiz them about life, college and future goals, and how school played into all of it.