Braly Pierce

Student

Bay College freshman Braly Pierce started his first semester just weeks ago, and he has already come to admire the dedication displayed by the college’s staff and faculty members.

Braly graduated from Escanaba Senior High School in 2022. Years before graduating high school, he already had a plan in place to attend Bay. More specifically, he signed up for the school’s early college program during his junior year of high school.

“They’d always tell us how you could get a free year at Bay, and I couldn’t turn that opportunity down,” he said.

Of course, the early college program was not the only reason he chose to start his college education at Bay.

“Being able to stay at home for another year was a big part of it, too,” Braly said.

While he has just started taking classes as a full-time Bay student, Braly said his early experiences at the college have been positive.

“It’s pretty nice. It’s a lot more connected than other colleges can be. Most teachers let you call them by their first names, which is kind of different from high school,” he said.

Braly’s classes have been going smoothly so far, thanks in large part to the dedication of his instructors.

“The teachers do good at teaching us the curriculum, and I did good on my first tests, so it’s going well,” he said.

Right now, Braly is majoring in business administration. He said he decided to give this career pathway a chance based on his own research.

“I had watched videos about it online and read books – I just decided to try it out, and it’s clicked with me pretty good,” he said.

As of September 2022, Braly was still weighing his options for what to do after finishing his first year at Bay.

“I might go to Bay next year, but I might go to Michigan State instead. I haven’t decided,” he said.

Regardless of what his future holds, Braly said he appreciates everything the people working at Bay have already done for him and his peers.

“The staff members are all really nice – they actually care whether or not you’re doing good, and they put in the time and effort to help you out,” he said.