Last Updated by Doreen, June 2022
As a Research Supervisor, I had worked with undergraduate research apprentices (RAs) previously on collaborative writing projects in the past, and I quickly realized that students really enjoyed opportunities to write freely without worrying about grades and standards of academic writing. It is freeing for many student writers to write about their own experiences and perspectives without worrying about how instructors might “dock off points” or whether their writing is “academic enough.” Students desire and need opportunities to write about their knowledge in ways that resonate with audiences they care about. In this case, my RAs are writing to students just like them, who may be interested in these topics of identity, mental health, and college student life.
Based on RA feedback from past discussions, I developed a short creative writing project that each RA would create and finish in spring quarter. The intention is to share each RA’s own unique perspective and experiences working on our research about college student experiences of mental health, education, family migration histories, and race/ethnic identities.
Specifically, we have been focusing on the role of the university as an higher education institution and how the school is intentionally/unintentionally a fundamental part of how students experience all of these themes. We have also been considering Asian American student experiences specifically, and each RA focuses on their own experiences and identities to showcase their knowledge.
In the following stories, each RA shares their perspective as an RA and student, their experiences with doing the research, and research findings that they think are interesting and worth sharing with others. The writers also share the challenges, struggles, benefits, and lessons they learned as an RA for this project.
If you are a student looking to become an RA, I hope that you will learn from these students and consider how your own story would look like in the future.
Multiracial Asian American Mental Health at UCSD: An “Outsider” Perspective
Inherently Political Identities: Asian and Asian-American Experiences at UCSD