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Classic Program
Senior Focus
Crossing Borders
Volume 6, Number 2 - Spring 2008
Drugs
drove Marvin Bethea out of school in the tenth grade. Prison brought him
back.
“I was locked up for eight months,” recalls Bethea. “I told
myself that the life I was living wasn’t getting me anywhere. If I ever
got out of jail, I’d go back to school.”
While at
the Rescue Mission of Trenton, he learned about the Teach program, a
series of classes on study habits, literacy and computers, aimed to help
former prisoners return to life outside of confinement. People & Stories
was one piece of that program.
“At first I really didn’t want to do it. But I sat in, Pat
[Andres, executive director of People & Stories] read the story, and we
started talking about it. It was a time in my life when I had a hard
time sharing my feelings. But the fact that I was sitting with other
people who told what they got from the story, what it meant to them,
really helped me share what I was feeling.”
In prison and at the Rescue Mission, disagreements quickly
devolved into arguments. But People & Stories was different, Bethea
says. “Everybody has different opinions; they’re not going to get the
same thing from the story. It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong.”
At the same time, Bethea was often surprised by how much
participants shared.
“You know how you think you’re the only one who sees things
the way you do? I was surprised that sometimes we were all coming from
the same corner.”
Bethea took part in at least half a dozen series of People &
Stories; he still keeps his collection of certificates. Along the way,
he earned his GED, a certificate in professional cooking and a B.A. from
Rowan College. He studied the hospitality industry and hopes someday to
open a restaurant.
At first, he was
nervous to go back to school. “I was in my 40s. I’m an old man, going to
school with all these kids. I didn’t know if I would be able to do all
the studying.” But the skills he’d learned while at the Rescue Mission
served him well. In the Teach program, “you had to put in a certain
number of hours. Then, I couldn’t wait to get in there to do my homework
and study things. The more I did it, the more I wanted to do it."
Bethea had worked in restaurants, advancing up the ladder
from dishwasher to prep cook, and watched chefs get more money and more
credit for work he knew he could master. In college, he learned about
the business aspects of cooking as well as the hands-on techniques.
He graduated from Rowan in 2006 and now works as a cook at
Ryder University. On weekends, he’ll invite friends for a meal of pasta
or seafood. He loves to experiment with vegetable cooking—something
other than the usual salt, pepper and boiling water method—and tries out
new recipes at family or church get-togethers.
Bethea, 47, credits the personal, authentic approach of
People & Stories with helping to draw him back to the world of books,
learning and aspiration. “[Andres] cared about the people who were in
the program. She made you feel comfortable.” People & Stories also
changed the way Bethea reads his most beloved book, the Bible. “It gave
me a greater understanding of the Bible, and made me want to read more.”
Stories Show Life, Not Answers that
are Right or Wrong
talking with Marvin Bethea