What's at Your Core?

Hello NASPA community.  I am currently in my fourth year in a Student Affairs in Higher Education doctoral program, yet my dissertation topic has been at my core my whole life. I was a four-month old biracial baby when I was adopted into a white, middle class family. I’ve known my whole life I was adopted. It’s been my “fun fact” during icebreakers, the answer to why I look different from my siblings (my parents’ biological children), and now it’s my research topic of my dissertation. Adoption has always been at my core, and not until my Advanced Student Development Theory class did I realize that adoption was not at the core of Student Affairs Professionals. Out of my 600+ page Student Development Theory book, four sentences even mentioned adopted students. Four Sentences. I remember coming across that and being pleased and displeased at the same time. Yes, adoption was being recognized, but it showed me how much more there was to research.

Fast forward to my qualitative research class when we were introducing ourselves through arts-based research that focused on who we are as professionals, students and researchers. Adoption has always been an important part of my life, even more so during my college years as I began to search for my biological family. This search impacted my collegiate experience tremendously, from affecting research papers to my career choice. I’ll never forget the moment when my dissertation topic was solidified; I was sharing my life journey with my qualitative class and a good friend asked me “Have you ever thought of using adoption as your research topic for your dissertation?” My initial reaction was “No, I have something else in mind,” and I moved on to finish my presentation, but that question lingered with me for days. With the support of my classmates, my research professor, and my dissertation chair, I did indeed change my topic to research the motivation and student development theories behind adopted students searching for their birth families in college. I have come across a fair amount of research on children and youth who are adopted, a few dissertations about adoption and its effects on parenting, but not too much research that relates college students who are adopted and how that can affect their identity development in college.

With this information and my supportive dissertation committee, I hope to shed light on transracial adoptees and adopted students in college to higher education professionals who work with them. Being adopted is a hidden trait. It’s not asked on many college applications; it’s not a visible characteristic; and there’s no office on campus that’s dedicated to students who are adopted. This is one main reason I have gotten involved with the Multiracial Knowledge Community. It’s mission states that “the MRKC seeks to stimulate education, develop knowledge, and promote resources and networking opportunities related to multiracial and transracial adoptee identity.” I’m happy to say that since my last post, transracial adoptee identity is no longer in parenthesis and is no longer an afterthought within the MRKC description; it is a core part of our mission. This is why I am grateful for the MRKC: we are acknowledging transracial adoptees as an important part of higher education.. The next step is to talk about it. Not all adoptees are willing to share their story, but if I can be just one voice to help start that conversation, then I am happy to share.

Amy Sellers is the Region IV-West Knowledge Community Representative for the Multiracial Knowledge Community. She works in Student Life at Kansas State University and is currently writing her dissertation for her PhD in Student Affairs in Higher Education on adoptive development theory within the higher education setting.