Bethany Rau – Giving And Getting The Most Out Of Life

Halfway through her student teaching experience, Bethany Rau realized she was not meant to become a teacher. Although she had reached the final stage of earning the credential she had long dreamed of, each passing day confirmed Bethany’s growing conviction that she needed to find another direction for her life.

“I felt like a complete failure,” Bethany recalls. Having catered her undergraduate career toward teaching, she felt she had wasted her time, money and efforts. Even worse, she hated not following in the footsteps of her beloved grandmother, Beverly Belk. This autumn, Beverly will celebrate 60 years of teaching.

Thankfully, however, even the death of a lifelong dream couldn’t overcome Bethany’s courage or depress her buoyant spirits for long. A native of Redding, CA, she found a job at the Record Searchlight and returned to Shasta College to study accounting and bookkeeping. In 2016, she applied for the Cascade Theatre’s box office manager position. She had been attending performances there with her grandmother from a young age.

During the interview, Bethany Lau learned the job involved running the school shows program enabling students to attend theatre performances and events at reduced rates. “I was instantly excited,” says Bethany, “it was the combination of my love of theatre with my love of working with kids.”

Under Bethany’s direction, the school program opens the historic Cascade Theatre to 12,000-15,000 local students per year for live theatre performances. “The looks on their faces as they gaze in awe at the art deco style of our historic building bring me so much joy,” Bethany says. Randy McKay, Cascade Theatre’s executive director, describes Bethany’s joyful, positive attitude as “infectious.” He notes that last year alone, Bethany also connected 1,000 students to Grammy-award-winning Black Violin; 1,000 students to a National Geographic explorer and filmmaker; and 12 music students to a master class session and performance with professional musicians. “It doesn’t matter who she’s talking to or what project she’s working on,” Randy says, “she’s always so positive that you can’t help but be excited yourself.”

While Bethany’s work brightens lives, the light comes from Bethany herself, a beacon of courage, perseverance and positivity. At the age of three, Bethany was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. While she doesn’t normally appear outwardly ill, she must carefully monitor her blood sugar and insulin levels. “There are days I can’t get out of bed because I feel terrible,” she admits, “but I can let diabetes control me and keep me in bed, sick and depressed, or I can take control of it and keep pushing forward, getting out there and pursuing what I want to pursue.”

Bethany chooses to share her journey and educate others, rather than hide her illness. “People hear I have diabetes and expect me to be older or overweight because they only know about Type 2 diabetes,” she explains. Type 1 diabetes can lead to eyesight loss, amputations and, as Bethany discovered personally, diabetic mastopathy. In 2019, Bethany underwent a double mastectomy because of these diabetes-induced tumors. While such an invasive procedure can easily lead to depression, she resolved to turn it into a new way to encourage other people.
“Bethany has a feisty personality,” says her grandmother, Beverly. “She hits the wall, feels bad, but then decides to go over, under or around it. By talking about her experiences, she helps others who face similar challenges.”

Beverly and the rest of Bethany’s network of deep relationships provide Bethany much of her strength and joy. Any given day can find her babysitting the children of her siblings, cousins or friends, all of whom call her “Auntie Bee.” She loves day trips or bowling with friends and enjoys teaming up with her cousin to dominate family game nights.

Bethany looks back at her hardest seasons without regret, treasuring today instead of mourning yesterday. Beverly remembers Bethany calling with yet another round of bad medical news. “I was sure I would come home to a puddle of tears,” Beverly says. “But by the time I got home, she had found all the positive ways to think of the situation instead.”

The mission of our be the change column is to feature community members from the North State who are actively making a difference in community life. If you would like to nominate someone who is making a difference, please write to pn@northstateparent.com.