Remembering Margaret Bradley, C-167

By Sarah Mollo, W-167

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Margaret L. Bradley, C-167 alumna, died July 10, 2004 of dehydration while visiting Grand Canyon National Park. Margaret and a friend began what they believed to be a 15-mile run that morning from the canyon's South Rim, but the distance proved much longer. Her friend became severely dehydrated and Margaret left to find help and water. She never returned. Margaret was born in Falmouth, MA and attended Falmouth schools through high school. In December 2001, she graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a double major in biology and earth sciences. Margaret had just completed her first year of medical school in May of 2004. SEA extends its deepest sympathy to her family and friends; she will be sadly missed, but fondly remembered. Here her classmate offers one such remembrance.

I still remember the sound of the hull cutting through the night's ocean in March 2000. I remember sitting on the elephant table of the SSV Westward and watching my shipmates "shoot the stars" to determine our path across the Caribbean Sea, our trust in science and in each other unparalleled. My mind drifted to my fellow classmates aboard the SSV Corwith Cramer and I wondered how my friend Margaret Bradley was faring. In addition to coping with thirty-five others in closequarters, how would Margaret's intensity for all things fit on a ship 134 feet long?

As such a strong individual, I worried that Margaret would be frustrated by the demands of teamwork. She was a classical violinist, a stellar college student, studying Earth Sciences and Biology, and an accomplished athlete, given the honor of Division III All-American for track at University of Chicago. She valued her running routine and maintained her disciplined lifestyle in Woods Hole. I should not have doubted that she would adapt her routine to the confines of Cramer's deck and also grow in other ways. Margaret embraced challenges.

When we reunited in Key West after our respective voyages, Margaret was energetic and full of smiles and laughter. I remember hugging her and feeling like there was more to her, as if she was a new and improved version of herself; something was different. Margaret came to SEA having difficulty slowing down and enjoying the quiet moments; by the time she left, she had learned to relish them.

My friendship with Margaret grew beyond "C" house and the Madden Center classrooms. The summer after SEA, we spent our nights working in Woods Hole and on the rare occasion that Margaret had a day off from her daytime research work, we would swim and lounge at Nobska Beach. She made me laugh, and despite her busy personality, she seemed perfectly content to be wherever she was at the moment.

As time passed, Margaret let loose a bit, but she continued to challenge herself. She returned to University of Chicago to attend medical school, and in 2004, she was the 31st female to finish the Boston Marathon.

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