On June 21, 2017, a piece I wrote on what motivates me to work with immigrant and refugee youth, Inextricably Interconnected, was published in the Faculty Voice column in MSUToday. In it, I share my personal and professional journey that has led me to where I am today. From my perspective, The Personal is an integral part of a scholar’s conceptual framework. If I am not personally connected and passionately committed to my work, then something needs to change. As Irish poet David Whyte beautifully articulates in his poem, Sweet Darkness:
Sometimes is takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
At the same time, paradoxically, my scholarship is not about me. Ideally, it shines a light on The Personal—the humanity—of the other people (participants, partners, research teammates) involved in the research and in doing so, reinforces the fact that no inquiry or learning is possible without people being willing to collaborate, communicate, connect, and share some of their personal space.