He Promised His Mom He’d Finish His Master’s. He Did.
Published: | by Hannah Sparling
It’s spring of 2023, and Christopher Bethea is logging into his Moreland University platform. He hits submit on his final assignment, the last step between him and his M.Ed.
Then, he breaks down in tears. It’s a dream come true. It’s a promise kept to his mother — even though she didn’t live to see it happen.
If his mother were alive, Bethea thinks she would tell him, I told you so. I knew you would go on to graduate school; I was just waiting for you to figure it out.
And he would reply, Yeah, you’re right. You always are.
Christopher and his mother, Christine Bethea.
Back to the Beginning
Bethea grew up in the Bronx, where he never gave much thought to his career, to what he wanted to be. But he did know where he wanted to be: everywhere. He wanted to travel and have adventures.
“I was really interested in buses, trains, airplanes, any form of transportation,” he said.
So when he got the chance to study abroad in Florence, Italy, during his sophomore year in college, he took it. Bethea was studying linguistics, but while in Italy, he connected with other university students who wanted to learn English. He started tutoring them, and that was his first introduction to teaching.
He enjoyed the tutoring experience, he said, but “at that time, I think for me, I was not really interested in the idea of education.”
Two years later, Bethea graduated with his bachelor’s degree. His mother urged him to go to graduate school, and Bethea promised he would, but he wanted to take some time first to travel. It was during this period that his mom passed away.
Christopher met people around the world during his travels, which inspired him to become an educator.
Finding His Niche
After his mom’s death, Bethea continued to travel around the world to each continent. While looking for work in Japan, the jobs he found revolved around teaching. He worked in training centers and a small kindergarten before he eventually found a job at a public school, where he taught for about a year and a half.
He moved to China for the next six years, where he taught junior high, primary school, and then kindergarten. Finally, he ended up in a nursery classroom with 1- and 2-year-olds.
“From there, I wanted to transition,” he said. “I knew I needed to build my credentials, because I didn’t have a teaching license, and I also needed to get my master’s degree as promised. So that’s when I found out about Moreland.”
As a nursery teacher, Christopher decided to become qualified for an international school.
Bethea enrolled in Moreland University’s Master’s in Education with Teaching Credential in April of 2022. His cohort had several candidates who were living in China already, and a few were located in the same city. Bethea got the chance to meet them in person where they could discuss their classes and what they were learning.
He had more than a decade of teaching experience at this point, but he still learned a lot, he said, especially around classroom and behavior management.
“When I first entered the program, I think a lot of the [lessons] were things I kind of knew, but I didn’t understand in full detail,” he said. “The way it’s explained in the modules, the videos and articles really examine everything. And then you also had peers that were doing the same thing.”
Bethea’s initial plan was to use his new credentials to get a job at an international school, but then his goal shifted. He graduated from Moreland University in 2023 with his teaching license and his M.Ed. in Teaching Multilingual Learners. A few months later, he launched his own educational consulting business.
Christopher helps prepare students and educates their parents for studying abroad.
Continuing the Legacy
Education was a family value in the Bethea household. Both of his parents went back to school later in life to finish their degrees, and they wanted even more and better opportunities for their son.
“I think for them, they just wanted to see me graduate,” Bethea said. “And I’m fortunate that my dad is still alive, so he was able to see that.”
As a consultant, now working remotely from Malaysia, Bethea works mostly with high school students who want to attend college in the United States. He holds workshops and partners with families, educating students and their parents about the process, what they’ll need to prepare to get into a good school, and how to succeed once they’re there.
He has helped students get into UCLA, UC Berkeley, and similar schools, he said. He is especially passionate about helping students who come from less wealthy backgrounds or who attended less prestigious public and international schools. He wants a great college opportunity to be available for everyone.
Originally, Bethea thought he would consult for a short time and then open his own language school. But now, three years in, he’s deeply invested in the lives of his clients. His mom pushed him toward education and encouraged him to strive for more. Now he’s doing that for the students he works with. He’s continuing her legacy as an educator.
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