HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH RESEARCH

07/19/2023

MY(BORING) RESEARCH EXPERIENCES

All throughout my high school, I was never intrigued in researching. When we researched in high school, I would always dread it, especially, the reading stage of a research process. I believe that the reason why I did not enjoy research during my high school years was because we were given very boring topics. I remember being in an English class we were given the task of researching a President of the United States. Reflecting on it now, I do not know why we were given this research task. A high schooler who is trying to transition to adult life successfully would not be interested in this topic. More appropriate could be “What is the history of the place that you work at?” or something that students were into at the time. I was not given the opportunity to research a topic that I was interested in. However, I do believe that the most important thing I got of these research classes is citing granted I cite in APA more than MLA now, and I had to learn APA by myself and from my peers.

MY (LEGAL) RESEARCH EXPEREINCES

When I was in Chippewa Valley Technical College, I had a class called Legal Research; the degree I was pursuing was an associate degree in Paralegal. At the time, I went into this class with the mentality of “Research. I am scared I will fail this class because of how boring it will be”. I had thought that this class was like every other research class that pushes you to research topics that you are not interested in and expects you to put the same amount of work you would into a project that you have great passion in. As we slowly moved through the semester, I realized that Legal Research was not such a drag to do. I didn’t enjoy it, but I didn’t mind doing it too. I believe that the reason why I didn’t have any feelings for this kind of research was because I enjoy reading cases, laws, statutes, and analyzing them. I may not enjoy some cases, but there were cases that falls in certain laws (e.g., family law, criminal law, immigration law, etc.) that I am interested in, and the nuances a single factor can affect the outcome.

MY (MCNAIR) RESEARCH (so far) EXPEREINCES

Entering the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, I was still not interested in research. However, after taking classes such as Hmong 130, speaking to some of my professors, and learning about the McNair program I decided to apply for it. I didn’t have a lot of expectations for the program because I was not entirely set with research. I was still unsure if I wanted to continue my research when I was accepted in the program. What really pushed me was learning about equity, diversity, and social justice in my education classes. I want to understand institutions of power and how it affects people of color. I want to know why Indigenous people are not acknowledged when they have been here the longest and why they are being silenced. Injustices is what infuriates me; thus, I have been able to turn this feeling into passion to understand and hopefully share my findings with the community I live in.

MY CURRENT RESEARCH

Currently I have been sending out fliers out to potential collaborators,

Flyer for my ongoing research (Created by my wonderful friend, ND Vang)

reading many articles and books for my ongoing McNair Research: Hmong Patriarchy: Hmong Women’s Educational Experiences. I have read Opening Doors by Anjela Wong and Up Against Whiteness by Stacey Lee. I have learned so much from these two books. It also further confirms the fact that Immigrants work vehemently to ensure that their family can prosper in a country that is set up to not support them. I love how these books can articulate complex theories to a layperson like me. These two books are the beginning of my long journey of research, and I hope to find more reasons to keep researching.