“Education Is Elevation” for Kadrian Chambers ’21

“I’ve got a little bit of home right here,” Kadrian Chambers ’21 says, adjusting the computer screen so he can show the Bob Marley poster and record taped to the wall, along with his Cayman flag hanging across the room. “And I got Minnesota right here.” He points to the beanies pinned above his head before talking about Minnesota weather. He left the Caribbean for Bethel in 2017, and the man who had never seen snow before was greeted with a polar vortex his first winter. “In late October my freshman year, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it's snowing outside,’” Chambers said, his tone quickly switching from wonder to disbelief. “Once it got to January, I was like, ‘What? This is ridiculous. No place should ever get this cold.’”

But braving the frozen tundra was worth Chambers’ college education. As he reflects on his time at Bethel, he’s grateful for his experience in the American Midwest, learning both inside and outside the classroom. “My story dates back to the day I was born, but I will never forget these four years of my life because, man, just so much growth happened in such a small time,” Chambers says as he prepares to graduate with a B.A. in both Reconciliation Studies and Missional Ministries. “I'm a very different person now than I was when I first came here.”

Though his family was born and raised in Jamaica, Chambers grew up primarily in the Cayman Islands as the youngest of eight children. He was the first person to graduate high school in his family, due to the opportunities he was given in the Cayman Islands, and throughout his childhood, going to college seemed as likely as becoming an astronaut—or at least, he thought of both futures in the same way, as if they were dreams. As he finished his senior year of high school, his friends’ college decisions motivated Chambers to explore his options. He googled top Christian colleges in America and narrowed his search to the Midwest so he could experience cold weather. He came across Bethel, and after seeing Welcome Week videos and photos of Bethel’s 247-acre campus, he wanted to attend. Nervous about his grades and potential to pay for college, he applied anyway, submitting what he still claims is one of the best essays he’s ever written.

Throughout his childhood, Chambers had connected with a family from Texas who had helped support and mentor him, especially as he graduated from high school. Mama—as he calls his informally adoptive mother—had taken him to lunch during his senior year and asked what came next. He mentioned that he applied to Bethel, and she immediately called one of her best friends, who had gone to Bethel along with her husband. In their own ministry, they had felt called to support someone financially and spiritually, so they quickly agreed to be Chambers’ Minnesota mom and dad if he were to be accepted to Bethel. With support from Mama, Chambers believed he could take the next steps to get where he wanted to go, and things kept falling into place. His SAT score was rather competitive; he received his student visa from Jamaica, which wasn’t necessarily guaranteed; and his church rallied around him in spiritual and financial support. 

Chambers then received a FaceTime from Liz Burd, then assistant director of admissions, in front of his whole family. “She’s like, ‘Well, we just want to let you know that you’re officially accepted into Bethel University.’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I’m going to Minnesota.’ This is crazy,” he laughs. “Cayman Islands, 2,000 miles away. I've never been that far up north. I've never been away from my family for more than a week. And while it was crazy, everything came out of nowhere. It was honestly just a blessing, and I'm happy that I am where I am right now.”

One of the blessings Chambers experienced while at Bethel was being part of the Reconciliation Studies program, where his perspective of reconciliation itself completely changed. He added the major his sophomore year, and he acknowledges that he’ll never graduate from reconciliation studies—it’s a lifelong learning process and commitment. Chambers wasn’t expecting to experience transformation in the classroom, but his reconciliation studies classes surpassed his imagination. “Reconciliation actually from my core, did a complete renovation,” Chambers says. “It has definitely opened my eyes on how to go about seeing people, hearing people, how to lament, how to be angry, how to experience joy more and joy better.” For his willingness to be transformed and his commitment to promoting reconciliation principles and practices, he received one of the two 2021 Reconciliation Studies Awards. 

Chambers infused what he learned about reconciliation into his work with Urban Farm and Garden Alliance, a non-profit that connects community gardens and resources within the Rondo and Frogtown neighborhoods in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their goal is to promote overall health and wellbeing—focusing on everything from financial health to physical and mental health. They’ve intentionally invested in their communities during times of social injustice, supporting and seeing the individuals they serve. Chambers spent the summer caring for two of their eight community gardens, serving the earth along with the community. “Every time I went to work, I started off by putting my hands into dirt before I did anything else to connect with nature,” Chambers said, noting that reconciliation can be between people as well as between individuals and the earth. In the winter, he would interview community members about their lives in these neighborhoods and teach children about planting their own gardens. For these efforts, Chambers received the Presidents’ Student Leadership Award, which acknowledges students who demonstrate a commitment to civic responsibility as they address public issues, build community, and combine their college experience with their work outside the Bethel community.

Beyond the classroom and his gardens, Chambers has been tremendously shaped by people in the Bethel community, especially through his work-study positions. He was a Cultural Connection Center ambassador his junior year, through which he connected with a small group of close friends. As a BUILD mentor his sophomore year, he cherishes the movie nights and field trips with the residents. When he was the assistant resident director of Getsch Residence Hall, he helped plan a dorm party during Welcome Week to help connect students in a fun, memorable way. He loved going to the Mall of America on Black Friday with his resident director. The Bethel senior will miss late night drives with his best friends, navigating the Monson Dining Center, and supporting his brothers and sisters of color in the Twin Cities.

Now Chambers will trade snowy winters for sunshine as he gets ready to graduate and return to work for the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and intentionally invest in his church. He’ll arrive home not only with a college education rooted in the Christian faith, but with first-hand knowledge of life in the American Midwest—a culture vastly different from what he experienced in the Cayman Islands—ready to do ministry wherever he finds himself.  “I'm a very different person now than I was when I first came here,” Chambers says, surprised and thankful. “No part of me that was innocent Caymanian survived these four years. But I'm grateful. I truly believe experience and education is elevation.”

Become a Reconciler at Bethel University

Students participate in internships that provide ongoing opportunities to co-build and sustain partnerships in a diverse world. These practical experiences enhance students’ ability to engage in mutual learning opportunities with off-campus communities while breaking down walls of division and inequity in our world. 

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