College of Education Secondary Licensure Student Receives National and State Recognition for her Research!

Ms. Sayro Paw, Secondary English Teaching Major, Teacher Recruitment Scholars Recipient, and Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) scholar has been selected to present her work, "Immigration stress among refugees resettled in Utah"  at the at the 2018 National Conference of Undergraduate Research at the University of Central Oklahoma. Ms. Paw’s research was chosen from more than 4,000 submissions. As event organizers noted, “…your abstract demonstrates a unique contribution to your field of study, and we are glad to offer you the opportunity to present your work to your peers, faculty, and staff from all over the nation."

Ms. Paw will also present with her UROP Faculty Advisor, Dr. Akiko Kamimura, College of Social Work, at the 2018 Research on Capitol Hill event at the Utah State Capitol.  This annual tradition features some of the best research by undergraduate students at the University of Utah and Utah State University. 

Sayro's story:

I was born and raised in the Mae La Refugee Camp of Thailand. When I turned twelve, my family decided to move to America. My parents wanted us to have the opportunity for a better education. When I moved to the United States, the only language I spoke was Karen, my native language. I entered the school system without the ability to understand what my teachers and classmates were saying to me. I would like to become a middle school teacher and teach English to newly arrived refugees and immigrants. This project is very important for my career goal because understanding immigration stress is very essential to better teach English to refugees and immigrants. Language proficiency and stress are closely related to each other. But research on immigration stress among refugees is lacking. Thus, not many people know about the issue. Through my research experience, I would like to raise the awareness of the issue of immigration stress among refugees. Based on my personal experience, many people believe refugees are very happy in the US. But in reality there are many challenges for refugees. Finally, to become a teacher who can effectively teach English to refugees and immigrants in the future, earning research skills is very helpful because I should always learn new things, and develop evaluation tools if necessary.