From Bethel to College: What you need to know if you are serving in any of the Bethel offices.
By Bobby
I graduated from college a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed the experience. The variety of people I was exposed to helped round out my personality. I am so glad I did it. For much of my previous career in Bethel, I jumped around doing various things, from geriatric nursing to construction to driving for the Society. However, I was not rewarded with a diploma or degree for any of these things even though I am highly skilled and efficient at them. This made making a living on the outside difficult.
When I was a Witness, school was looked down upon. Pioneering and Bethel service were the preferred choice for a young man just out of high school. After many years of Witness service, what I really wanted to do was to go to school and get an education in a field that was satisfying and of my choice. Not one that was chosen for me. In Bethel, from time to time, they needed skilled people but from the in-house stock, and if none existed, then they would send brothers to school, for supplemental nursing courses, EMT, electrical, etc. I was one of a few that was chosen and it worked well while I was there. It served its purpose for the time, but it just wouldn't do if I left.
Then later on, I did leave and I asked myself, what would I do? Well after resolving within myself that I need to leave for my sanity. I had to come up with a plan. The plan was to leave and do some construction work to hold me over with housing and such and find a good school that I felt comfortable with. The unfortunate thing about Bethel is that you only get (or got) $100 a month and a PEA, or personal expense account at the end of the year which was nice but didn't take you very far at all. Living in New York City is not cheap and unless you have family to take care of you getting by would be rough. I had none of this. My loving mom who is a former witness helped when she could. Every little bit helped. Often I asked myself, “what to do, what to do?”
School is never gonna be easy especially paying for it. You could easily take out loans for school and then of course pay them all back over several years. But, if you happen to find yourself in Bethel service or some other form of special full-time work and you want to go to school, first, find a school you want to go to. Make your way out, (I mean of the Witnesses if you want) which may not be easy but can be done. Contacting others who have done it before and survived like me or other ACB members, (we would love to hear from you and help where we can).
If you served at Bethel, you may not realize it, but you have a valuable asset that will work in your favor. You've accrued an amount of time in what the worldly authorities consider a non-profit religious organization. This means that for the time you’ve spent there, (the more the better) for better or for worse, is like the Peace Corps, which entitles you to many freebies from local, state and federal governments, such as TAP or PELL (monies form the government). You could apply, (at least in NY state) for a grant from the state and since you left the organization and "if"you have no income you can get them to pay for up to 100 percent of your schooling. That's right. It can happen! The school bursar can help you with this, but first, you need to obtain paperwork from the Society.
Before you apply to school, you need a valuable piece of paper from the Watchtower Society that proves you have been a volunteer worker and were exempt from paying U.S. taxes and were wholly supported by them. They will give this to you at the completion of your Bethel service, but you have to ask for it. You can even request it during your special-full time service but they'll question you a lot as to why, so get your mind set beforehand. Even if you don't plan on going to school, it's very good to have just in case the IRS later on down the road wants to know why you haven't paid taxes for "x" amount of years. (See Legal Department in Patterson Educational Center). Remember, you are entitled to this valuable piece of paper, even if your Bethel service was horrible and you left on bad terms, THEY MUST GIVE THIS PAPER TO YOU! You earned it! Contact me if they refuse, well talk.
Now comes the good part. If you just happen to be a woman, a person of color or in another minority group, then you just may do very well and not have to work at all while in school! Yep, persons who fit into these categories get loads of grants and scholarships, (free money) from local, state and federal governments to further your education. They consider you an investment and if you qualify you will have money in your pocket for free. But most importantly you will be a valuable member of society, as a whole, contributing to your own development and accepting responsibility for yourself and your future by being the person you want to be.
The only part of this equation that is not the easiest is housing. If you plan on living in NYC and schooling here, you're going to need money right when you get out. Maybe I'll save this issue for another time. But just a couple of ideas: some people rent rooms week-by-week or monthly, with or without a deposit, but that can be risky. If your in a crunch it's something. Sometime I'll have to write about my experience and housing in NYC with the pics, fun. I hope this gives you some idea of how to get help and what to expect when you want to go to school. Remember, stay focused and try hard to keep a clear mind on your short-term goal to reach your larger ones. If I can be of help, you know where to reach me. I would like to share a quote from my late grandfather "Study hard because struggle is intense for a place in the sun".
Good Luck!
Sincerely,
Bobby