Gerald Bradshaw

Gerald Bradshaw is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.

Bradshaw: AI can assist kids with questions, storytelling

March 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m.

What makes AI uniquely suited to five-year-olds isn’t its intelligence — it’s its patience, its responsiveness, and its willingness to engage with whatever peculiar, delightful rabbit hole a small person...

From left, Bryce Graham, 18; Hammond Area Career Center Skill Advisor Scott Ciupak; and student Alex Waszak, 18, work on building a plant stand on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Hammond. Graham, who attends Griffith High School; Waszak, of Highland; and two other Highland High School seniors graduated with a carpentry certification and competed nationally in Atlanta, Georgia. (John Smierciak / for the Post-Tribune)

The AI boom may mark the return of the shop class

February 25, 2026 at 6:00 a.m.

The kid who learns to run conduit and terminate high-voltage panels in a well-funded high school program may ultimately have a clearer path to financial security than many of their...

Seth Gozo (left) of Crown Point answers a question on the reproductive process during a problem-based learning seminar, led by Dr. Ernest Talarico, an assistant professor of practice in Anatomy & Physiology at Purdue University Northwest on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (John Smierciak / for the Post-Tribune)

Bradshaw: Mastering the game of college success

February 3, 2026 at 1:51 p.m.

The game has changed. Colleges may not even know what they’re looking for — but students who think critically, master fundamentals, study people, and use every tool at their disposal...

Representatives from Purdue University answer questions from students Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, at a college fair at Indiana University Northwest sponsored by the Urban League of Northwest Indiana. (Carole Carlson/for Post-Tribune)

Bradshaw: Preparing for interviews when you’re still figuring things out

January 12, 2026 at 2:28 p.m.

For most employers, interviews are less about identifying a finished professional and more about reducing uncertainty. They are trying to understand whether someone can take on responsibility without creating problems,...

FILE - Students walk past Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles, campus in Los Angeles, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Bradshaw: Why some majors are harder to get into than the college itself

December 20, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

As with so much in education, information is power. The student who digs a little deeper — past the glossy brochures and headline numbers — learns not only how selective...

The University of Michigan football stadium is shown in Ann Arbor, Mich., Aug. 13, 2020. (Paul Sancya/AP)

Bradshaw: Who really reads your college application?

November 28, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

At top schools, the people who read and vote on applications come from wildly different backgrounds. They are trained admissions officers, faculty members, and deans who evaluate thousands of files...

Hobart High School student Isaac Smith uses the GPT-4 based Khanmigo to help form story ideas in teacher Kristen Musall's math class on Friday, June 2, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)

Bradshaw: AI use growing in workplace, education

November 14, 2025 at 5:41 p.m.

There’s no difference anymore between how a junior in AP English and a junior analyst at Goldman Sachs gets the job done: both use AI to write, edit, summarize, polish,...

A high-altitude balloon is held fast as it is inflated on the Valparaiso University campus in Valparaiso, Indiana, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (Andy Lavalley/for the Post-Tribune)

Bradshaw: Why I write about students — not the system

October 30, 2025 at 4:12 p.m.

Students — whether they’re high-school juniors in Crown Point or international scholars from Istanbul — are the pulse of education. They embody its hopes, its fears, and increasingly, its disillusionment.

Prep books, pencils and calculators are just some of the items used by students attending a SAT prep class at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream in 2018. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Bradshaw: In the Age of AI, SAT prep may be the best bet for students

October 16, 2025 at 12:04 p.m.

In a world where essays, portfolios, and interviews may become more AI-influenced, a strong standardized test score acts as an anchor. For high school students, that makes SAT prep one...

The Purdue University campus on Oct. 8, 2020, in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Bradshaw: The real cost of college — Dollars, status, and the futures we buy

September 20, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.

Families making the decision today must weigh more than tuition. They must ask: what kind of future are we buying? Is it the prestige of Harvard, the innovation of MIT,...

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