Fitchburg is a fairly small city in north central Massachusetts on the banks of the Nashua River. At its eastside campus, Fitchburg State University enrolls around 7,000 students and employs hundreds of locals as faculty and staff, and serves as a major cultural and intellectual hub for the community. The city is surrounded by lush nature preserves, with the forests and mountains providing endless opportunities for outdoor recreation— cool off at the Great Lodge New England water park in the summer, and hit the slopes at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in the winter. Boston is only about fifty miles to the east, with MBTA rail service allowing you to make the trip in less than ninety minutes.