Page 20 - NJC Magazine Spring 2017

Alumni Profiles
At Neuchâtel Junior College, nothing makes us prouder than seeing the wonderful things that our alumni go on to achieve after their time at our extraordinary school. With over 60 years of graduates going on to explore the world after their year in Neuchâtel, we love sharing stories with our community worldwide about the lives and careers that our grads are leading.
Meriel Beament Bradford (née Beament) ’62
Meriel says that Neuchâtel Junior College had a major impact on her life – encouraging her inquisitive nature, and giving her the confidence and skills to travel and meet all sorts of people. She credits her fluency in French, and her love of history and art to her year in Switzerland and has continued to travel widely throughout her entire life. Her eagerness to learn about new cultures and languages has not diminished, and her three adult children are of the same mind.
During her time in Neuchâtel, Meriel lived with the Kessly family and said that breakfast at home is one of her fondest memories of day-to-day Swiss life. Her pension Monsieur was a confectioner! She treasures her experience of spending Christmas in a small alpine village, where the tree was lit with real candles, children sang traditional Christmas carols and they enjoyed a fondue supper. She last visited Neuchâtel in late 1990s while attending WTO negotiations in Geneva to liberalize telecommunications, and was happy to relive her memories and show her colleague the sights!
Meriel is the President of Snowberry Investments Limited and has several noble volunteer endeavours. Recently, she has become a director on the Board of the Juno Beach Centre Association, which operates the Canadian museum dedicated to World War II in Normandy that NJC students visit each year, and where young bilingual Canadians have the opportunity to work as guides each year. She is honoured to have been part of the D-Day Commemoration as a new Board member this past June, and is pictured here with her grandson, Finegand Bradford, laying a wreath for the Juno Beach Centre at the Canadian monument in Basly, Normandy.
The NJC Community and prospective families love to hear about what our grads get up to after their time in Neuchâtel. Contact alumni@neuchatel.org to share your story!
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Neuchâtel Junior College Magazine