Kailey Tan

Being an Asian-American student at a predominantly white, Christian university has changed the way I think about culture.

My hands shook, my voice wavered and I could barely think above the music. A crowd of faces stared back at me. 
My memory blanked. My brain panicked. I was going to forget the words.

There’s more to Bethel’s resident lake than what is seen at first glance.

Caleb Meeker felt spontaneous. It was finals week of the Spring 2023 semester, and with the extra time from Wednesday’s study day, Meeker was on the lookout for something exciting to do. His idea of a good time? Grabbing some friends and swimming across Lake Valentine.

It was our time. The room was getting heated, the lights in HC123 were dim, and my heartbeat was racing 15 beats over the speed limit. Freshman year of college: I knew my education was taking me places.
I just hadn’t expected that place to be standing on top of a chair in the middle of my Humanities classroom, fired up from a debate on Thucydides’ history.
Okay, so I couldn’t really help myself. The debate was just getting too good.
Sporting my orange floral shirt, navy skirt and black sandals t...

This is my testimony to the true costs of Bethel’s tuition repositioning.

“Sometimes you just have to be grateful for the gifts that God has given you,” was a statement I wasn’t expecting to hear from the Financial Aid Office, especially not at Bethel University. Sitting in the small office on the fifth floor of the Anderson Center, trying to stop the tears from flowing, I felt for the first time that Bethel no longer cared about me.

At least, not in the way it used to.

Bethel has ensured that, post-tuition reduction, I am still paying the same tuition amount as before. Except now, my scholarship is no longer based on my academic achievement.