Alumni of Brightvale University

Tobias Sigmir

Major: Journalism

"My time at Brightvale University was a real eye opener. I majored in journalism on my quest to become a Gormball announcer and I thought I studied up on everything there was to journalism. Boy was I wrong! Brightvale University offered something that no other college, academy, or university were able to provide: real world experience. Brightvale University hires the best reporters and journalists in all of Neopia, some having come from Brightvale University themselves. Our teachers worked us hard and I had spent many of sleepless nights practicing my interviewing and commentating technique to perfection. Brightvale University knew what I wanted so carefully crafted my program schedule so that every class I took was involved in journalism in some way: literature, public speaking, sociology, psychology; they even pointed me to extracurricular activities that had to do with my major such as writing sport articles for the university newspaper. There were fun times of course, though they wanted to present us with what the real world would be like: lots of work. But we were also taught that if you love your job you won't have to work a single day of your life, and I can happily say I haven't. Brightvale University is tough, but if you're serious about what you want to do they'll set you on the right path! Though be prepared to have a high student loan by the time you're done."

Professor Hugo Fairweather

Major: Archeolinguistics

"Ah yes, Brightvale University, why it was like yesterday I was walking down those halls discussing about the languages of Neopia's ancient past. Actually, it WAS yesterday that I was walking down those halls; I was giving a lecture to a class of archeolinguistics. We Fairweathers have quite a long history with Brightvale University, we being a family of scholars; in fact my daughter Lillian is currently attending Brightvale University. Though the Fairweathers have studied in many fields, I was the first one to enter the fields of archeology, specifically archeolinguistics. Fueled by my quest to translate Mad Tongue Murphy's Journal, I learned the ancient languages and was able to not only translate the journal but also find the Lost Isle! I was ridiculed for my quest, never you believe the tale that scholars are meek and passive as we are a fiercely competitive bunch, but I took my studies very seriously so Brightvale Academy too me seriously. They did try to convince me to use my skills for more reputable goals, but I kept on my quest and proved my naysayers wrong! Of course those naysayers still don't believe I found the Lost Isle. They say the flower I brought back was something I specially bred to be strange; can you believe that? However, Brightvale University knows the truth when presented with it and have agreed to file my discovery and review it for authenticity, though for some reason they need to keep pushing it back when it comes up. Something about lacking an expert of some kind, they themselves didn't sound sure; if I didn't know better I'd think they were just coming up with excuses. Either way, discovering a long lost island doesn't pay off those student loans. I'm almost convinced I'm hypothetically tied to this place until I pay them off. *chuckles*"

Professor Lambert

Majors:Philosophy, Sociology, & Anthropology

"Oh, I have fond memories of my time at Brightvale University. I was the top student in all my classes, except for biological chemistry *momentarily frowns and shakes a fist in anger, but then returns to his usual pompous posture*, and was the captain of the debate team, chess club, and also cheer captain. Yes, I was very active back then, though since then I have eased my pace and settled down to being the leaders of the Seekers; though I also do serve on the board of directors for Brightvale University. But back to my days at Brightvale University; I was rather spontaneous, aimless, and wanting to experience everything. It wasn't until Brightvale University where they helped straighten my wanderings to a single path, letting me realize who I am and what I was put here for. Once I did my grades vastly improved and I was then invited to join the university's Seekers Club. As you may imagine the Seekers Club is a club that the Seekers support, fund, and use to find and blossom potential talent. But you cannot simply join the Seekers Club, you need to be invited which was and still is one of the greatest honors one could receive at Brightvale University. So as you can see, Brightvale University set me on the roads of success which I have walked upon since entering its grand halls. But of course before getting on that road I had to first pay a hefty toll, said hefty toll being my student loan."

Professor Chesterpot

Majors: Archaeology & Archeolinguistics

"My days at Brightvale University, you say? Now that takes me back. I recently visited Brightvale University to make a speech about my discovery of Maraqua as they have exchange students from Maraqua studying there. A lot has changed since my time there so I don't know if anything I'll say will still apply, but what I do know about it is that it's still a good university and the top of its class. Of course I do believe it was better when I went there. Back then the Brightvale University was much more focused on the sciences but now they have all sorts of art and even magic programs; it just seems like their trying to do everything but are spreading themselves out too thin if you ask me. But I suppose they changed to match the times; much of Neopia has been explored and new discoveries aren't as common as they were before. Neopians had to start doing something else besides being explorers. Even I don't go on many expeditions as I used to, though that's mainly because my old age is catching up with me; it's the reason why I sat out the Obelisk War while the other Seekers went to fight. However, I'm still kickin'! I'm scheduled for an expedition of Neopia's frozen southern region, which costs are partly being covered by the Brightvale University. Glad to see they're using their NP wisely, even in my days they charged an arm and a leg. Why, I didn't finish paying off my student loans until many years after graduating!"

Professor Agatha

Major: Archeolinguistics

"When I went to Brightvale University I was surprised how supportive and respectful they are to their students. I've always been fascinated with ancient languages; it started when I was a kid with hieroglyphs, but as I got older I got more into the complications of written languages. Throughout my Neoschool life I was made fun of by those who were more athletic than me and even my teachers thought I was wasting my time. It wasn't really until I went to Brightvale University that they not only encouraged my chosen profession but also helped me get assigned to the Tyrannian decoding project. Tyrannia was just discovered at that time and with it brought the Tyrannian language. Since the locals only spoke and wrote Tyrannian, there was an immediate need to translate their language to Modern Neopian, but the translation team was having some trouble. They asked all the colleges, academies, and universities for help. I was the top of my class so I was picked to help and that's when I made my mark on history! I won't bore you with how I figured it out, but I noticed a pattern similar to other languages' root language and was able to piece it together from there. Now Tyrannian and Modern Neopia are easily translatable and the Tyrannians have honored me by Tyrannianizing my name to 'Ug Ga Thaa', which coincidentally sounds similar to their word for 'Hot Pepper', which is how I got that nickname. And this is all thanks to the Brightvale University for believing in me. I don't even mind that some, or rather most, of the reward NP went to paying off my student loan."

The Sway

Major(s): CLASSIFIED(?)

*This is a message I got from the Sway when I asked them if they had any members from Brightvale University*

"Dear inquisitive Neopian Times reporter,

We respect and thank you for your interest in wanting to possibly include members of the Sway in your article. However, we are afraid we cannot divulge the information which you inquired about. Note that this is not necessarily a denial, but at the same time it's not a confirmation. Please understand the Sway is a secretive group, our existence only made known recently due to the Tyrannian Obelisk suddenly appearing, so we try to keep anything from identifying our members under lock and key. However to compensate for our inability to answer your question, we do have some opinions we can share with you about the Brightvale University.

The Brightvale University has the utmost respect from the Sway. Had we have members from there, which we may or may not, they would have taken much from their classes of psychology, sociology, economics, and parapsychology. We are not saying these classes are related to the Sway, but it's possible that some member of the Sway have had interests in those classes.

As a final note we'd like to clarify that we're not excluding those from Brightvale University from joining the Sway. The Sway's recruitment method, something which no one outside of the Sway knows about, means we keep an eye on EVERYONE and you'll know if we have an interest in you joining our ranks.

Sincerely, the Sway

P.S. - Brightvale University's fees and the student loans needed to cover them are too exorbitant and extravagant. This does not mean any member of the Sway has a student loan; we are just noting this."

Professor Milton Clodbottle

Major: Tripetology

"I more remember the outside of Brightvale University than the inside, being I majored in Tripetology; that's the study of Petpetpets for those of you who don't know. While there are plenty of Petpetpets you can find inside, the best way to observe them is in their natural habitat. All my classes mainly took place outside or in a greenhouse that Brightvale University has set up. I already knew a lot about Petpetpets, I've been fascinated with them since I was a kid, but the Brightvale University put me in classes that I didn't think would involve Petpetpets like ecology, botany, and even geology. I always wanted to create some kind of mini-habitat where you could watch them live and work and the classes I took helped me create my greatest invention: the Habitarium! The Habitarium was a huge hit, getting other people interested in Petpetpets and even I've learned so much more about Petpetpets from it as well. The Habitarium project is now over, but I couldn't have done it without the Brightvale University teaching me what I needed to know to start it. Of course they know that with every student loan payment I do."

Professor Vinsjin

Major: Parapsychology

(There are some conflicting reports about Professor Vinsjin. He was reported to have died years ago; however, recent reports say he was seen exploring the Neovian Catacombs. After navigating through the catacombs, being hit with a few dozen curses and trying not to trip over all the Petpets from Grave Danger, I finally found him and the rest of the Ghoul Catchers, Brave Bren and Doctor Boolin, and asked about his time at Brightvale Academy.)

"You want to know about my time at Brightvale Univeristy? My, that was so long ago, but I'll do my best to tell you what I remember. Let's see, I went to Brightvale University to study up on ghosts, ghouls, and the paranormal as my great-grandfather predicted they would rise to power and only he had the secrets to stop them! Sadly he didn't leave me his journal so I had to learn about the paranormal from scratch, or rather within the Brightvale University. They questioned my goals and reasons though trusted I knew what I was doing so helped me get my major is parapsychology. It was in one of those classes where I met Doctor Boolin *Doctor Boolin lifts his hat and nods to me* and together we planned on creating the Ghoul Catchers, a group dedicated to exterminating the ghouls of Neopia. If it wasn't for Brightvale University I wouldn't have been able to stop the ghouls from taking over Neopia! *I ask Professor Vinsjin about his apparent death after sealing away the ghouls. He's confused for a moment before they all chuckle* My good sir, have you not known you've been talking to ghosts this whole time? *All the Ghoul Catchers start fading out, but as they do I hear Professor Vinsjin give a last few words* Sorry to go, but even in the afterlife the fight with the ghouls goes on! Apologies to the Brightvale University for me about being late on my student loan payments."

And with that interview my writing pad was filled up though I only had gone through not even half of the list of alumni that Brightvale University was kind of enough to provide me. However, I believe even with this small sample that it's clear what many of Brightvale University's former students think about it. It's a university which spares no expense on giving their students what they need to achieve their dreams, but at the same time working them hard to prepare them for the outside world. If you want to one day be able to enter Brightvale University then start studying while you still can (and also saving up for those expensive student loans)!