| Original Full Text | University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023– Graduate Studies Spring 2024 Constructing Refugee Identity: A Heuristic Inquiry into Experiences of Ukrainian Refugees Deana Tsabak University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissunl Recommended Citation Tsabak, Deana, "Constructing Refugee Identity: A Heuristic Inquiry into Experiences of Ukrainian Refugees" (2024). Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–. 76. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissunl/76 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023– by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. CONSTRUCTING REFUGEE IDENTITY: A HEURISTIC INQUIRY INTO EXPERIENCES OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES by Deana Tsabak A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Educational Studies (Educational Leadership and Higher Education) Under the Supervision of Professor Taeyeon Kim Lincoln, Nebraska April, 2024 CONSTRUCTING REFUGEE IDENTITY: A HEURISTIC INQUIRY INTO EXPERIENCES OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES Deana Tsabak, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2024 Advisor: Taeyeon Kim Besides the despicable atrocities and devastation, Russia’s war in Ukraine caused the emergence of a group of refugees previously unknown in the U.S. and the world. The phenomenon of “Ukrainian refugees” is new to the immigration and resettlement agencies, host communities, employers, and educators. This research explores how five Ukrainians who left their homeland after the beginning of Russia’s war construct their refugee identity in the United States. Furthermore, this study aims to discover in what ways learning English in the English Language Learning (ELL) program at a community college in Nebraska influences refugee identity construction in resettlement. This study utilizes a heuristic inquiry approach due to its relational nature and the researcher’s closeness to the topic of inquiry. My intimate connection to the events in Ukraine and continuous relationship with the participants, created a favorable environment to study the essence of Ukrainian refugee experiences heuristically. I conducted conversational interviews with the participants in their native Ukrainian language with the goal of collecting the deepest and most meaningful explications of the experiences without the constraints of the language barrier. I translated the interviews into English and then performed their thematic analysis. Three major aspects of the participants' lives influence the construction of refugee identity the most – faith, work, and English language acquisition. I found that the participants’ faith which was prominent before the exile, strengthened through belonging to church, religious community, and relationship with God. Work was ingrained in their world in the United States and their future was believed to depend on good employment opportunities. At the time of the interviews, the participants were actively discovering their professional identities. Lastly, fluency in English meant the ability to thrive and succeed in this new country they started to call home. i This Dissertation is dedicated to: My husband, Neeraj – you make everything better. Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Taeyeon Kim. We met late in my doctoral journey, however, she immediately perceived my great passion for this study. It is because of her unstoppable pursuit of excellence and around-the-clock support that I can firmly state – this manuscript contains my entire being. A million thanks to my committee. They all contributed to my successful completion in countless ways, each unique but collectively helping me evolve as a researcher and a scholar. Dr. Wayne Babchuk guided me through the depths of methodological thinking I never knew existed; the stories of his experience were always captivating to listen to. Dr. Jiangang Xia repeatedly challenged me to leave my comfort zone when teaching the principles of quantitative research methods and beyond. Dr. Nick Pace encouraged me to continue my research when I encountered obstacles; he assured me that my work was important to share with the broader public. Dr. Katherine Wesley was my “anchor of calm;” her positivity and kindness always comforted me during stressful times in the program. Special thanks to Dr. Marylin Grady, who helped me believe that spearheading an area of research is nothing to be fearful of, and Dr. Erin Pearson, who is a trusting friend, a confidant, and who made the commiseration of life of a doctoral student joyful. My deepest appreciation to my colleagues at Metropolitan Community College. If I were to expound on the support I received from them over the years, the synergy of our ii work together, and the trust and authenticity of our relationships, the document would fill pages. They inspire me every day to be the best leader in Adult Education I can be. I would also like to thank my participants. Without their fateful experiences and their willingness to share their stories with me, this study would not exist. From the bottom of my heart, I thank my family – the one I was born into, and the one I acquired through marriage. They are a constant reminder of unconditional love, the virtues of family relations, and how fortunate I am to have them in my life. Lastly, my beautiful son, Constantine, is the light I forever carry with me. Words can only mediocrely describe my love for him, but during my time in this program, that love equaled persistence. My constant work on this research also awakened his curiosity and the meaning behind being Ukrainian. I am grateful to have been the origin of that. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions .................................................................2 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................5 Researcher Positionality ...................................................................................................8 An Overview of the Research Design ..............................................................................9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................11 (Re)constructing Refugee Identities: Employment, English Learning, and Spirituality 11 Who are Ukrainian Refugees: Synopsis and Background .............................................15 Pre-Invasion Timeline ................................................................................................16 Refugee Support Programs in the United States ........................................................21 Responses to Ukrainian Refugee Crisis .....................................................................25 Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement and Services, Nebraska ..........................................30 Challenges and Concerns ...........................................................................................32 Summary.....................................................................................................................34 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................36 Heuristic Inquiry ............................................................................................................37 Qualitative Design and Rationale ...................................................................................42 Formulating the Question...........................................................................................43 Processes of Heuristic Inquiry ...................................................................................44 Phases of Heuristic Inquiry ........................................................................................48 Research Participants .....................................................................................................51 Data Generation: Conversational Interviews .................................................................53 iv Data Organization, Analysis, and Synthesis ..................................................................54 Trustworthiness ..............................................................................................................57 Ethical Considerations ....................................................................................................58 CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS: (RE)CONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES ..................................61 Faith: The Grounding Factor ..........................................................................................62 Faith Pre-Exile: Depictions of God, Church, Family, and Community .........................62 Faith in Exile: Unceasing Attachment to Spirituality ....................................................68 God .............................................................................................................................70 Church ........................................................................................................................71 Family .........................................................................................................................72 Community ..................................................................................................................74 Work: Dismantling Established Professional Identities .................................................75 Work Pre-Exile: Professional Identities Established......................................................76 Work in Exile: Ongoing Discovery ................................................................................78 Resilience ....................................................................................................................78 Future dreams ............................................................................................................81 Independence ..............................................................................................................83 Judgment of others .....................................................................................................85 English Language Acquisition: Connecting to the New World .....................................89 Looking Back at History with English ...........................................................................90 English Learning and Identity Discovery .......................................................................92 English in Educational Setting (ELL class)................................................................92 English in socialization ..............................................................................................95 v English in work and career ........................................................................................98 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION ...........................................................................................101 Identity and Employment .............................................................................................103 Identity and English Learning and Education ..............................................................106 Identity and Religion ....................................................................................................108 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH ........................................112 CHAPTER 7: CREATIVE SYNTHESIS ........................................................................117 Letter to Motherland .....................................................................................................117 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................120 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION An email dinged in my mailbox insistently at 10:59 PM on November 9th, 2022. I looked at the sender and smiled stiffly – Elena, our most passionate instructor and student champion - always emails late after hours. I opened it suspecting that it would contain a student situation that needed my attention, but also knowing Elena would not receive a response from me that night. The email read: Hi Deana, how are you? I need some help from you for my Ukrainian student, Oksana Dekhtyarenko1. She and her husband are in their 50s and are living with their son, his wife and baby grandson in Elkhorn. Oksana has done very well in the ELL program, raising her reading score 21 points since August 15th! She is now done with ELL, but she plans to continue to take Adult Education classes with us for the foreseeable future. It’s great. Oksana and her husband are working on getting work authorization and finding jobs. They have attracted the interest of an Omaha company and have begun the interview process. Oksana has a master’s degree and a background in business and finance. Do you think you could possibly meet with her to give her some culture notes and pointers about interviewing in the U.S./Omaha context? It would be very helpful if someone who speaks Ukrainian and knows the two cultures could give her a hand. The war had stopped being anything extraordinary months before I received that email. My family and I were still terrified to learn about continuous missile strikes and wished for more with guilt we weren’t doing enough to help. But reaching out to our relatives and friends became more infrequent and less heart-wrenching. The war became a routine part of our family conversations. Yet, I didn’t immediately grasp how to adequately fulfill Elena’s request. Annoyed, I initially thought I didn’t need another 1 Oksana Dekhtyarenko is the participant of this study. All participants of this research, including Oksana, chose to use their real names. Participant visibility is an essential component of heuristic inquiry, they are a part of the story. I received IRB approval to have the use of pseudonym optional as separating the participants from the phenomena of their experiences would trivialize the significance of this project. 2 refugee story; I wouldn’t be able to remain impartial and assist without imposition; I couldn’t stay out of this person’s experience; but most importantly, my responsibilities and commitments did not permit an added distraction. But after the superficial excuses were exhausted, the realization came: if not me, then who? The combination of my Ukrainian background, experience in adult education and years of working with English learners, and being a self-proclaimed Omaha native, set me apart from everyone else. This was a unique opportunity to be useful to Ukrainian refugees as well as to the people of Nebraska who so warmly welcomed them. I met with Oksana and her husband shortly after and instantly knew what my dissertation ought to be about. Her story and several others laid the foundation for this study. Purpose of the Study and Research Questions Refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (n.d.). The U.S. Department of State, on the other hand, describes a “refugee” as someone who has experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion (U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, n.d.). Yet another designation by Amnesty International: a refugee is a person who fled their country because “risks to their safety and life were so great that they felt they had no choice than to leave and seek safety outside their country because their own government cannot or will not protect them” (Amnesty International, n.d.). 3 The official definitions of the term do not clearly illustrate what it means to be a refugee through the eyes of people escaping dangers and overall terrible circumstances. There is little information about the experience of fleeing the war, however, literature exists on how that experience impacts people who come to live in exile, specifically how they (re)construct their identity in the host countries. Multiple publications focus on refugees having close interconnectedness between their past and present (and their perspectives on the future), and how their identity shifts from “old” to “new” (Bilge, 2018; Cun et al., 2019; Guler et al., 2022). Since minimizing refugee dependency on the U.S. government support and integrating them as quickly as possible is one of the main pillars of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, sustainable employment becomes an integral part of forming the “new” identity of refugees (Koyama, 2015). However, there exists a direction of refugee research that examines the psychological angles of identity formation. For example, Utrzan & Wieling (2020) study the effects of displacement due to war on feelings of uncertainty about identity, social isolation, and loneliness. Yet others explore resilience in refugee groups – a measure of emotional stability or quick recovery under adverse conditions – and how it can be increased through language learning programs (Faiq & Cinkara, 2018). Perlman (2020) discusses identity as an ever-evolving, situationally-dependent concept in the context of learning English in the host countries’ ELL programs. The ELL environment plays an important part in the creation of refugee identities as learners (Perlman, 2020). Refugees view education as one of the few (and sometimes the only) ways out of terrible circumstances (Dryden-Peterson & Horst, 2023). The identity of refugees in refugee camps and host countries is strongly influenced by their hope for a better future. 4 That, in turn, leads to a common understanding that achieving success means discipline and effort. A part of refugee identity is moving to successful career paths and combining ambitions with a clear awareness to earn an income which for many refugees is attainable only through education (Dryden-Peterson & Horst, 2023). The influx of Ukrainians seeking asylum in the U.S. forged a phenomenon “Ukrainian refugee,” a term previously unknown to Americans. Studying Ukrainian experiences with the goal to foster systems delineated above – social, educational, workforce, healthcare - may help integrate them into the new society with dignity and care. The purpose of this study is to examine the living experience of fleeing the war, how that experience forms the concept of “refugee identity”, and what role English language acquisition plays in that process. Additionally, the objective of this project is to discover new images and meanings of the phenomenon “Ukrainian war refugee” and lead the researcher to realizations relevant to their own experiences (Moustakas, 1994). Moustakas used his personal relationship with loneliness as the foundation for studying that phenomenon in others. Similarly, this project includes a deeply felt conscious and unconscious interest in the topic I experienced in the context of the Russian invasion of my homeland. As advised by Sultan (2019), this study is a communion of what I (the researcher) already know about the topic and what I am out to discover from others who experienced it. The target population for this study is English-as-a-second-language students at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska, who started their participation in the program after February 24th, 2022, and self-identified as refugees from Ukraine. 5 This study aims to expound on the following research questions: 1) How do refugees from Ukraine shape their identity in asylum? 2) What role does English language acquisition play in constructing refugee identity? Significance of the Study The anniversary of the Russian invasion, February 24th, 2023, marked the record number of displaced Ukrainians – over eight million people across Europe, 86% of whom are women and children (Jones & Kogut, 2023). The significance of this study starts here, with this number – more than eight million Ukrainian refugees. Regardless of how or when the war ends, many of those people will never be able to return to their home country. Will European Union introduce a permanent policy to absorb Ukrainian refugees into their population? Will Canada welcome larger numbers, considering its prominent Ukrainian diaspora? Will the U.S. government introduce a workable solution to its immigration policy that will address the Ukrainian refugee crisis? Those are the discourses that require urgent response and action on levels of diplomacy and politics. On the human level, however, it is known that Ukrainian refugees will not disappear from our borders or our communities. It is therefore important that human scientists begin creating a system of knowledge surrounding Ukrainian refugees. And since the scholarship on this subject is in its infancy, this study may be a trailblazing work in the field. Another reason this study is significant is due to the novelty of the phenomenon “Ukrainian refugee.” How much do host communities know about Ukrainian identity, culture, history, and customs? In 2020 the Ukrainian Institute in Europe commissioned a 6 research that aimed to examine perceptions of Ukraine abroad which suggested that foreigners know very little about Ukraine, and what they know is permeated with stereotypes (Sheiko, 2022). U.S. public most commonly associates Ukraine with Russia and conflict, nuclear disaster in Chornobyl, beautiful women, borscht, traditional embroidery, and the Euromaidan (Sheiko, 2022). These reductive portrayals were attributed to the media which, sadly, are the primary source of information for the public. The host countries have been welcoming Ukrainian refugees with an open heart. Despite the overall warm reception by the EU, Canada, and the U.S., I argue that closeness in skin color, culture, and religion to the host communities (attributes race scholars outspokenly criticized as the preference to accept refugees from Ukraine), is insufficient to integrate Ukrainian refugees successfully. This study may provide valuable insights for refugee sponsors, resettlement agencies, businesses, educators, and others on how to best support Ukrainians in the new environments. Ukrainian society is one of the most educated in the world with a tertiary gross enrollment ratio of 83%, according to UNESCO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, n.d.). This data suggests that a large number of Ukrainians who fled the war received some level of higher education. However, Ukraine places 28 out of 32 European countries in the ranking of English proficiency (Sorokin, 2018). If English language skills do not meet the job requirements in the U.S., Ukrainian refugees will most likely perform jobs in industries different from those they were a part of in Ukraine. Understanding the experiences of the refugees from Ukraine may be beneficial for educators and employers in terms of recognizing talent, language teaching, and providing tools and support, as well as care and compassion. When English language program providers possess the 7 knowledge of Ukrainian refugee experiences, they may be able to serve them (and possibly other refugee groups) better. The goal for every host community is to resettle and acclimatize the newcomers with minimal disruptions. This study may become a useful resource for that. Rooted in geopolitical competition, security alliances, and economic interests, the picture of Ukraine is painted as a faceless country, lacking agency, and in desperate need to break away from its “big brother,” Russia (Kudlenko, 2023; Sheiko, 2022). By bringing the stories of Ukrainians to the surface, by having them share their histories, hopes, and determination, my goal is to change the view of Ukraine and its people as weak. Finally, this study contributes to research on refugee communities by exploring and honoring stories of my participants. Moustakas (1994) describes the heuristic inquiry as a process in which the researcher aims to answer a question that is challenging and puzzling on a personal level; the clarity on the question helps the researcher understand themselves and the world in which they live. Heuristic inquiry is abundant in personal human stories. I aim to not only collect, organize, and tell the story of each participant, but to maintain self-inquiry and discovery of underlying meanings of important human experiences (both participants’ and my own). That presents not only social but universal significance (Moustakas, 1994, p.17). Caring in heuristic research is a positive thing, according to Sultan (2019) as well, because it has the potential to transform the researcher and people who come to contact with the study (p. 210). 8 Researcher Positionality The awareness of my subjectivity with respect to this study is as strong as the desire to report on the stories of my fellow Ukrainians. I have spent many years working with adult English learners many of whom are also refugees. My background as an adult education administrator shaped my empirical perspective that refugees are one of the most voiceless minority groups in our society. Having been forced to flee their homelands, they rely on the generosity of their host communities, however, unable to navigate the foreign systems, they silently accept the minimal services and support given to them. Due to the language barrier, we assume that refugees are only suited for low-skilled work, so meatpacking and housekeeping are the go-to industries for employment until their English is proficient enough to inform us that they have other talents. We don’t teach them differently from other English learners either. Adult education programs do not have the resources or knowledge to provide special support for refugees, not to mention services that address their psychological needs. Nevertheless, I considered conducting qualitative research with refugees only when millions of displaced Ukrainians started getting resettled in Europe and the U.S. The literature describes positionality as a perspective people adopt in a given interaction, specifically in regard to the participants which is shaped by their personal background, status, and how they see the world (Martin & Gomez-Amich, 2021). Ontologically, I have come to recognize my privilege as a well-educated Ukrainian who immigrated to this country voluntarily. I have never been deprived of freedoms and I have never feared for my son’s life. My memories of Ukraine are abundant in tradition 9 and rituals, national pride, picturesque landscapes, and my grandma’s kitchen. My Ukrainian history is a peaceful one. When describing my own reflections relative to the phenomenon of Ukrainian refugees, I am cognizant that I cannot divorce myself from the participants in my study and the experiences those participants share. My partiality and closeness to the phenomenon is by itself a limitation of this study. Staying attuned to my feelings and channeling them into reexamining my perspectives and questioning my assumptions is key in this process. As recommended in Glesne (2016, p. 146), I intend to use my subjectivity, in terms of my personal history and passions, to contribute to the research. An Overview of the Research Design The overarching objective of this study is to describe how Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion after February 2022 experience their new realities in the Unites States. One of the better ways to achieve this is through a heuristic inquiry in which the focus is on the consequential decision to leave one’s homeland, the pathways to the U.S., and how those experiences influence the creation of the refugee ontology. I collected qualitative data through conversational interviews with five refugees from Ukraine who currently attend the English-as-a-second language (ELL) program at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. To generate as much meaningful information as possible, a dialogue between the researcher and the participants was best suited for data collection. Due to the fact that it is challenging to comprehend the nature of the phenomenon without understanding those who have experienced it, interviewing is the most prevalent method of data collection (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). I conducted the interviews in Ukrainian and then transcribed and translated them into 10 English. The participants have not lived in the U.S. long enough to communicate their experiences freely and thoroughly in English. Their levels of English proficiency are different as well, and I would not have collected consistent meaningful data had I conducted interviews in English. Due to the complexities of this process, I asked and received permission to follow up with the participants to ensure trustworthiness and comprehensiveness of their stories. The in-depth examination of the methodology for this study is expounded in Chapter 3. 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW In this section, I outline literature on (re)constructing identity among refugee groups and a historical synopsis of the phenomenon “Ukrainian refugee”. Both volumes of literature notably guided my inquiry into the experiences of Ukrainian refugees. (Re)constructing Refugee Identities: Employment, English Learning, and Spirituality Every conflict or disaster forces people to leave their homes (and sometimes, there are no more homes to leave) and seek refuge elsewhere. Despite the devastating circumstances, Utrzan & Wieling (2020) describe leaving one’s country as a choice. The number one motivation for people to seek asylum in another country is protection when exposure to traumatic events makes it impossible to live without disruption. The secondary motivation is the prospect of rebuilding the lives lost (Utrzan & Wieling, 2020). As of mid-2023, there were over 110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, under the UN High Commissioner on Refugees mandate, and over half of them (52%) in need of international protection come from just three countries – Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine (UNHRC, 2023). All of them, including refugees coming from other places across the globe bring unique attributes – ethnicities, cultural heritage, race, religion – which are often studied under the term ethnic identity. Constructing refugee identity is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon that evolves from the displaced group’s national, racial, or religious background. In doing so, parts of the identity that did not exist before the displacement emerge or strengthen after people become refugees (Bilge, 2018). 12 The U.S. refugee resettlement model focuses on the rapid adjustment and contribution to the U.S. society (Guler et al., 2022). That means that host communities need to provide robust support to refugees as soon as they arrive, that way refugees become self-sufficient and well-adjusted as quickly as possible. Drawbacks of these approaches aside, understanding how refugees form their identities in asylum is essential in creating systems that help with the attainment of success in the U.S. The first requirement on the way to self-sufficiency and becoming a contributing member of American society is employment, which requires resilience and adaptability. Guler et al., (2022) identified that the process of “starting over” one’s career is a stressor for many refugees requiring the development of new knowledge, skills, and vocational identities to be able to navigate the U.S. job market. Typically, even some successful careers in their native countries are not transferrable to the U.S. workforce. In a study conducted with refugees in Canada, the participants reported multiple challenges they encountered in the job market, including language barriers, devalued credentials, and assumptions about refugees’ worth and capabilities (Jackson & Bauder, 2013). However, employment, even in low-skilled job (“refugee jobs”) fostered a sense of independence, control, and agency over uncertainty in their lives. It was viewed by the participants not only as the means to financial stability but also as an enactment of citizenship, something they had to “give back” to society (Jackson & Bauder, 2013). How well refugees integrate their knowledge and skills in their native countries with the knowledge and skills acquired in the resettlement can be analyzed through the lens of adaptability and resilience of refugee identities relative to work (Nguyen & Benet-Martinez, 2013). Refugee resilience is examined as a part of identity (re)construction 13 because resilience allows for growth under significant adverse conditions, and refugee experiences are the epitome of such conditions (Fariq & Cinkara, 2018). While the U.S. resettled millions of refugees, many of them demonstrated resilience and skillfully navigated challenges related to employment, including “relearning everything they once knew,” “restarting education,” “building the skills to survive,” and “adjusting expectations of the American dream” (Guler et al., 2022) Refugees in the U.S. are often portrayed as “risk-takers,” full of perseverance and hope, which tightly aligns with American values (Koyama, 2015). At the same time, refugees and other immigrants are viewed as a threat to working-class and poor Americans because they all compete for increasingly limited jobs and social services, despite that refugees are net contributors to the economy (Potocky-Tripodi, 2004). National and local policies make it a priority that refugees do not overuse or become dependent on government programs (Koyama, 2015). Many research articles echo the narrative that employment is critical to refugee adaptation, and English language acquisition is an integral component of securing adequate employment (Baran et al., 2017, Guler, et al., 2022, Koyama, 2015). English language acquisition in refugee populations is often described as challenging. Some of the main barriers relate to access to English Language Learning (ELL) opportunities (childcare, transportation, availability of ELL courses in communities) and the time it takes to achieve fluency in English (Guler et al., 2022). In their research, Guler et al. (2022), emphasize the importance of improving access to equitable access to education for refugees after resettlement. Such opportunities help refugees navigate bureaucracies, accumulate social capital, and share their experiences in 14 various social environments (Cun et al., 2019). English language acquisition doesn’t only mean learning it in the ELL classroom or other educational settings. It means creating opportunities for refugees through community and social interactions. That way the relationship between refugees and the English language becomes a dialogue that goes beyond their ELL classroom experience but transcends refugees’ daily life, social values, future aspirations, and linguistic environment (Perlman, 2020). The participants in the study conducted by Bergquist et al. (2019) stated that the preservation of personal identity and culture was important, however, they emphasized the importance of enacting the identity as a member of a host culture by speaking English. Many refuges state that the hardest part about resettlement is learning “to speak English,” yet, English proficiency fosters the feeling of being accepted by the host culture (Bergquist et al., 2019). Many refugees maintain the connection to their religious identity from their homeland in asylum. They seek religious communities in their host countries, and once found, religious practices become an important part of their identity. Raghallaigh (2011) suggests that religion plays an important role in the lives of refugees and asylum seekers due to its ability to help people cope. Such coping involves the use of religion (praying, attending religious services) to handle challenging and stressful situations. Refugees integrate religion into the center of their lives because doing so makes sense and feels right (Raghallaigh, 2011). Additionally, it is easy for religion to maintain its status in the identity of refugees in resettlement because it is intangible and transportable (from home countries) – it can be used in any way and at any time (Muruthi et al., 2020). In the host countries, religious practices are shaped by peoples’ lives in the past and their current 15 lives (Cun et. al 2019). According to Choi & Berho (2015), older European immigrant groups depend on the church to maintain cultural traditions, and both older and more recent newcomers, attend their ethnic churches for emotional and social support. Church, therefore, is more than religious practice. The church provides its members with community, social status, social services, and identity (Choi & Berho, 2015). Muruthi et al. (2020) reiterate the importance of religion and religious institutions in refugee lives in the findings of their study: “practice of (their) religion fostered a sense of community and provided participants with an emotional reprieve from traumatic memories and present anxieties.” Religious communities play a critical role in supporting refugees who struggle with informational, language, and cultural barriers. Finally, refugees rely on the strength of their belief system which helps with regaining control of their lives and make sense of their experiences (Muruthi et al., 2020). In sum, research suggests that employment, learning English, and a strong connection to religion and spirituality are some of the key factors that (re)shape the identities of refugees in the United States. For Ukrainian refugees, faith, reinventing of professional self at work, and learning English were the prevalent themes as well. Who are Ukrainian Refugees: Synopsis and Background Although literature on the experiences of various refugee groups exists, this research does not aim to glean meaning about the Ukrainian refugee phenomenon through the lens of someone else’s experience. It is my belief that comparing Ukrainian refugees to other groups would minimize the meaning of their unique experiences and deny them agency. Hence, further review of the literature for this study is unequivocally related to the phenomenon of Ukrainian refugees from February 2022 until now. 16 The literature on the origins of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict as well as the history of the U.S. resettlement programs, and the asylum system can fill tomes. Although intimately interwoven in this research project, the war in Ukraine and refugee resettlement are not its purpose. The review of the literature summarily establishes a timeline that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. It mainly focuses on the programs through which Ukrainian refugees are being admitted to the U.S., the government and civilian response to the crisis, and the resettlement services and support they receive in Nebraska. Additionally, it is critical to mention that the malleability and fluctuation of the present situation in Ukraine resulted in new resources available by the time this study was complete. All data and figures presented in the literature were subject to change as the events unfolded, making this review neither exhaustive nor infallible. But as suggested in Glesne (pp. 34-35), I read the imminent literature on the subject throughout the research. This helped in informing the research design and ensure this study adds insight to the discipline where gaps exist. In addition, participants of this study mentioned some of the events I describe in the timeline as a part of their experience. That’s why it is important to provide the reader with the brief historical context for the emergence of refugees from Ukraine. Pre-Invasion Timeline Several consequential events preceded the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by its neighbor. • In February 2014, the wildly unpopular and corrupt president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych, was impeached by the Parliament (Historic Documents of 2014). Much to Russia’s dismay, Ukraine had long demonstrated its desire to build 17 future diplomatic and economic relationships with the EU. After Yanukovych pulled out of the EU trade agreement, months-long protests erupted in Kyiv in which Ukrainians demanded the president’s resignation, changes to the constitution that limits the president’s power, and pursuit of closer ties with the European Union (Historic Documents of 2014). This movement has been recorded in history as the “Revolution of Dignity” (Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). For Ukrainians, the Revolution of Dignity was a geopolitical choice between yielding to Russian oppression and developing democracy; submitting to Russia would have meant the loss of autonomy and rights (Oksamytna, 2023). In a national survey sponsored by the “Democratic Initiative” foundation in 2020, Ukrainians named freedom as their most important value (83.9%), followed by justice (72.5%), and safety (63.5%). Material well-being was least important (46.5%) for the 2002 surveyed individuals (Assessment of the Protection of Basic Human Rights, 2020). • While the U.S. and EU supported the movement, Russia declared it illegitimate. Shortly after, multiple Russian forces started entering the Crimean Peninsula where Russia kept its strategic military base. According to Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Russia placed 22,000 troops in Crimea, violating the agreement that limited that number to 12,500 (Historic Documents of 2014). The Crimean government then called for a referendum to secede from Ukraine and become a part of Russia. In a sham election imposed by Russian military forces, over 96% of people supported the union with Russia (Historic Documents of 2014; Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). On March 18, 2014, Russia successfully annexed 18 Crimea and proclaimed it part of the Russian Federation. In his “justification speech”, Putin stated that the Russian military was merely responding to the request of the Russian-speaking Crimean population who feared oppression by the new pro-European government in Kyiv (Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). • Following Crimean secession, Russia-backed separatists seized control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. Similar referendums were held in those regions which were extensively criticized and rejected by most countries. Their results endorsed political independence from Kyiv and the formation of the quasi-independent republics led by rebel separatists in May 2014 (Historic Documents of 2014; Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). • Experts on Ukraine, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, consider the annexation of Crimea and separatist rebellions in Donbas the actual beginning of the war (Prashad, 2022; Meyer, 2022). Numerous violent clashes between the Ukrainian military and the separatists followed the secession, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives, and forcing multitudes of people to flee (Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). Russia denied any involvement in the Donbas situation, however, the photos of the insurgents released by the Ukrainian government and analyzed by the U.S., indicated that they were Russian Special Forces. The Secretary of State at the time, John Kerry, stated that the insurgents were equipped with Russian weapons and wore the same uniforms as the military forces that invaded Crimea (Historic Documents of 2014). In his interview with Washington Post, President Zelensky asserted that “they began this war of occupation where they chipped away from us little by little in 2014… They have been trying to devour 19 our country through their information policy, all of their television… They had big assets, the petrodollars, and revenue from gas, so of course, they bought up our industries and so on” (Khurshudyan, 2022). • Multiple diplomatic attempts to bring stability and peace to the Donbas region in the following years failed. In 2021 Russia began building up a greater military presence along the Ukrainian border sending the signal to the rest of the world that any NATO-Ukraine cooperation will be considered a hostile act against Russia (Cavandoli & Wilson, 2022). Putin recognized the independence of the Donbas region on February 21, 2022, and three days later announced a special operation to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine. In Russia’s interpretation, Ukraine fell victim of ultra-nationalists who together with the West want to separate its people from their “big brother” (Kudlenko, 2023). The UN Security Council condemned the invasion and recognized it as a war with the goal to “remove its (Ukraine’s) government and subjugate its people” (UN Security Council, 2022). For centuries, Russia made attempts to subjugate Ukraine having developed the belief of its domination and supremacy over Ukraine and Ukrainians. However, the invasion of Ukraine cannot be solely explained by Russia’s imperialistic thirsts. According to Oksamytna (2023), they are Ukraine-specific. Contemporary Russian literature and media portrayed Ukrainians as “backwards, indolent, and selfish – and thus in need of imperial guidance.” Russia constantly depicted Ukraine as a “failed” and “divided” state on the international arena. The invasion was orchestrated under the pretense of liberating the failed state in which Russian-speaking inhabitants were oppressed by Nazis led by the 20 sinister West (Oksamytna, 2023). Despite that there was no evidence of the rise of Nazism in Ukraine under the Jewish president, it is difficult for some people to view Ukraine separately from the Russian world (Kudlenko, 2023). One of the explanations for that is a linguistic misconception that there existed a big divide and hostility between Russian and Ukrainian speakers in Ukraine, and that Russian speakers needed urgent protection. However, Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (2022), reported that in all regions of Ukraine the absolute majority (over 90%) of the population believed that there was no oppression or persecution of the Russian-speaking population. Among those who only spoke Russian at home, 81% believed there was no oppression or persecution. Kudlenko (2023), additionally reports that before the invasion, Ukrainians were not polarized linguistically, ethnically, culturally, or electorally, but economic divisions were more important in understanding Ukraine than language. The Russian invasion has clear characteristics of the imperialistic agenda, including the actions of the Russian forces, including looting of the cultural relics, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing, and forcing people in the occupied territories to join the military forces (Oksamytna, 2023). Yet despite the universal delegitimization of the imperial violence of the grounds of sovereignty, self-determination, and non-aggression, the global community failed to recognize Russia as such. Instead, the invasion has been explained by security or status concerns (NATO threat). The answers to this predicament go beyond the scope of this project. However, in a New York Times opinion piece, Ukrainian novelist and poet Oksana Zabuzhko offered a perspective that Russian imperialism was never identified as a problem by the West due to its imperialistic solidarity with Russian and its own imperialistic past. She states “I fail to see any other reasonable explanation 21 for why so many in the West clung to the irrational belief that democratic transformation in Russia was just around the corner” (Zabuzhko, 2023). At the time of this writing, the war has been pillaging Ukraine for two years. Despite the despicable atrocities and devastation, the Russian military failed to deliver on Putin’s senseless agendas. In fact, the war achieved quite the opposite: 1) it has unified the West against Russia; 2) it drove individual NATO countries to spend more on the military; 3) Sweden and Finland, two historically wartime neutral countries, joined NATO; 3) Russia experienced enormous material and human losses, including a mass exodus of male population abroad to avoid conscription; 4) the West imposed sweeping sanctions what will detrimentally affect Russian economy; 5) Russia was unsuccessful in persuading other post-Soviet countries to join forces against Ukraine; 6) Kremlin underestimated the resilience and valor of Ukrainians who gave the new meanings to the words “liberty,” “democracy,” and “freedom” worldwide (Stepniewski, 2022; Chatterjee, 2022; Tanis, 2022; & Thahoor, 2022). However, one of Russia’s most dire miscalculations was the joining of the global efforts in welcoming and assisting the millions of Ukrainian refugees during this time. The war has overwhelmingly awakened incredible generosity and compassion in governments, organizations, and individuals across the globe. Refugee Support Programs in the United States Before World War II, there was no official distinction between the terms “immigrant,” “refugee,” and “asylum seeker” in the U.S. (Sajjad, 2022). Facing the challenges after the fall of Saigon and attempting to resettle approximately 130,000 Vietnamese refugees, Congress passed the U.S. Refugee Act in 1980. The Act 22 standardized federally supported resettlement services for all refugees and also incorporated the definition of refugee into the Immigration and Nationality Act (Sajjad, 2022; U.S. Department of State). A refugee is an alien who, generally, has experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Since the passage of the Refugee Act, the United States has admitted more than 3.1 million refugees (U.S. Department of State, n.d.). Through the rigorous processes which include vetting by the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and others, over 70 nationalities have been represented in the U.S. refugee resettlement program (Sajjad, 2022). In addition to the traditional refugee admittance processes, family reunification programs also allow vulnerable groups to seek refuge in the U.S. Closely intertwined with this country’s foreign policy and political considerations, one such program - the Lautenberg Amendment – allows certain individuals who reside in the U.S. to bring their family members to this country (Sajjad, 2022). Originally proposed by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg in 1990, the program intended to help resettle persecuted Jews from the former Soviet Union (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). The amendment was later expanded to include religious minorities from other countries. The program is also a critical component for resettling Ukrainian Jews, Evangelical Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Ukrainian Greek Catholics, and Autocephalous Orthodox in the U.S. (Sajjad, 2022). The program operates under the U.S. Refugee Admissions and must be reauthorized by Congress every year (Lautenberg Program Fact Sheet, 2022). 23 Before 1992, Ukraine as a place of birth was not listed on the U.S. immigrant statistics, as all immigrants were recorded under the Soviet Union (Wohlowyna, 2022). That term was abandoned after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. The Lautenberg program allowed for the resettlement of large numbers of Ukrainian refugees in the U.S., in fact, in 1992 almost all immigrants from Ukraine were refugees. It was very difficult to migrate abroad during Soviet times, and the Lautenberg program welcomed marginalized and oppressed groups - mainly Jews and Protestant religious denominations (Wohlowyna, 2022). The difference between applicants under the Lautenberg program and regular refugees under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is that Lautenberg applicants are only required to prove that they are members of a protected group (not individual) with a credible fear of persecution. Asylum seekers under INA must establish a valid fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion on an individual basis (Refugee Admissions and Resettlement Policy, n.d.). The Lautenberg program created a so-called chain migration in which people from the same religious minority groups could be reunited with their relatives who live in the U.S. (Rush, 2022). Most of the refugees from Ukraine under the Lautenberg program were processed by 1997; after that, the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine significantly declined. Only a small percentage of immigrants from Ukraine qualified for refugee status, while most immigrants were accepted through standard migration processes: 1) family, when one member migrates, then applies to bring other family members; 2) diversity, known as visa lottery and is distributed among several countries (U.S. administers 50,000 lottery visas annually, and their allocation by country varies); 3) 24 employment, in which immigrants are hired by American companies for their valuable skills (Wohlowyna, 2022). The overall number of refugees that can be admitted into the United States is determined by the President on the yearly basis. In his Memorandum on Refugee Admissions from September 29, 2023, President Biden declared that in the fiscal year 2024, the U.S. will accept up to 125,000 refugees from various places of the world as justified by the humanitarian concerns or is in the otherwise national interest (The White House Briefing Room, 2023). The report with the proposed number is then sent to Congress (Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration, n.d.). The most recent Congressional Presentation by the Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration comprised sobering facts that over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced, and 1 in 29 people worldwide need humanitarian assistance and protection. Additionally, Russia’s war in Ukraine created an influx of refugees in Europe unprecedented since World War II, at the same time worsening the global food crisis (Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration). Thus, the Bureau is building the capacity to provide resettlement to 125,000 refugees in the U.S. demonstrating its “commitment to humanitarian leadership and human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression” (Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration, 2023). To fulfill this promise, the Bureau requested $3,912 million from Congress for Migration and Refugee Assistance and $822.5 million for Refugee Admissions Programs. There is no concrete budget requested by the Bureau for Ukraine because it was developed prior to Russia’s invasion. However, the Migration and Refugee Assistance Programs “will continue to provide refugees, victims of conflict, internally displaced persons, and other 25 vulnerable groups with access to emergency assistance, social services, shelter, livelihoods, and psychological support” in the region as the situation continues to evolve (Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration Report, 2023). Responses to Ukrainian Refugee Crisis Historically, Americans and Europeans have had a negative view of refugees. The attitudes range from refugees posing threats to the host communities, are undeserving of assistance, or incapable to assimilate. In their 2023 article about early media reports on the Ukrainian refugees, Sambaraju and Shrikant state that western nations adopted a notion of “good” and “bad” refugee. In the United States, “good” refugees are those who fit the “model minority” standards and accepted the pursuit of the American dream. In the U.K., it is perceived that it is not the host country’s responsibility to integrate refugees, they are responsible for their own integration. Similarly, in Australia, a “good” refugee is someone who wants to integrate and participate in Australian society forgoing their ethnic and political voice and presence (Sambaraju & Shrikant, 2023). The “migration crisis” of 2015-2016 led to politization of immigration in Europe and the U.S., causing great divides among parties, governments, organizations, and even the consensus on human rights (Moise, et al., 2023). The arrival of refugees from Ukraine, however, was received differently across the host countries. The reception of Ukrainian refugees has been more positive than migrant waves in the past. This leads to preliminary suggestion that ethnic, cultural, geographical, and identity-based proximity to a specific refugee group influences public attitudes towards refugees. Additionally, the source of refugee migration, gender make-up of refugees, their portrayal in the media and by politicians matters how the public 26 perceived them (Moise, et al., 2023). Although not the goal of this project, the overall warm welcome of Ukrainians compared to other refugee groups is important to mention in the context of my study. If the admittance and processing procedures were different for Ukrainians, I would not be able to gain access to my participants and complete this research as timely as I had. Media described Ukrainians flooding European cities in racially biased terms such as “just like us” which rightfully caused an outrage among race scholars and international analysts. Azraa Muthy, an investigative journalist and researcher for Aljazeera Media Institute published a collection of humanistic and favorable media portrayals of refugees from Ukraine, whereas “the same sort of empathy is rarely shown towards refugees from the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) and other Global South countries” (Muthy, 2022). De Coninck, 2023, argues that Europeans feel less threatened by migrants from European countries. Similarity in values, in Ukrainian case taking steps to join the EU and NATO also contributes to European and American sympathetic attitudes towards refugees from Ukraine. The overall greater support Ukrainians receive from Europe and the U.S. compared to, for instance, refugeed from Afghanistan is due to a “shared collective conscience,” which is determined by cultural, ethnic, and political proximity. Russia, as the enemy, poses bigger threat than Taliban in the eyes of European and American public (De Coninck, 2023). A study was conducted in Poland and Czech Republic that examined the phenomenon of changed attitudes towards Ukrainian refugees compared to other migrant groups in the first two months of the war (between February 24 and April 24, 2022). The results suggested that Ukrainian refugees were perceived as a more deserving group because 1) they were predominantly women and children; 2) 27 Ukrainian refugees displayed gratitude; 3) could reciprocate when entering the labor market; 4) identified as European, and 5) were in greater immediate need of help (Zogata-Kusz, et al., 2023). The researchers emphasized that Polish and Czech media, together with the public did not question Ukrainian need for assistance; they focused on challenges to be dealt with rather than problems associated with the Ukrainian refugee presence (Zogata-Kusz, et al., 2023). U.S. initial response in regard to millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion was to provide them with economic and humanitarian assistance in the neighboring countries they escaped to in Europe. Immediately after the first attacks, Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken reported that “the President requested an additional $1 billion from Congress to deliver more humanitarian, security, and economic assistance in Ukraine and the surrounding region” (Secretary Blinken’s Press Availability, March 4, 2022). One month later, facing pressure from refugee advocates, President Biden committed to resettle 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. (Rush, 2022). In April 2022, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Majorkas declared: “We are proud to deliver on President Biden’s commitment to welcome 100,000 Ukrainians and others fleeing Russian aggression to the United States. The Ukrainian people continue to suffer immense tragedy and loss as a result of Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on their country” (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). Administered by the Department of Homeland Security, Uniting for Ukraine is one of the legal pathways under which displaced Ukrainians can seek refuge in the United States. U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services contains step-28 by-step streamlined information on eligibility and the application process. Ukrainian citizens and individuals who were residents of Ukraine before February 11, 2022, who have a sponsor in the U.S., and who completed public health requirements, cleared biographic and biometric security checks are eligible to travel to the U.S. for a period of two years with work authorization. Any individual can sponsor Ukrainian applicants if they can declare financial support and pass security background checks (U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services). In addition, Ukrainian citizens already present in the United States may be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which is designated for counties that fall into one or more statutory bases: ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary and temporary conditions. Secretary Majorkas designated Ukraine the TPS status in early spring 2022 based on the ongoing conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent Ukrainian nationals and residents from returning to Ukraine safely (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d.). The TPS designation does not grant its recipients permanent residency in the United States, however, it allows them to remain in the country with work authorization while the designation is in effect. Department of Homeland Security attested that the pledge of welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees was never the cap (Montoya-Galvez, 2022). Besides Uniting for Ukraine program, refugees arrive in the U.S. through other, traditional pathways. According to government data, some 47,000 Ukrainians traveled to the U.S. on temporary or immigrant visas; about 30,000 – under private sponsorships; 22,000 were admitted at the U.S.-Mexico border; and 500 entered the country through the regular refugee system (Montoya-Galvez, 2022, Ainsley, 2022). In March 2022, the Biden 29 administration even allowed Customs and Border Protection officers to exempt qualifying Ukrainian refugees from Title 42 at the U.S.-Mexico border. Title 42, a Trump-era directive, was crafted in 2020 with the intention to protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic by expelling all irregular immigrants (those without visas or permanent residency in the U.S.) and asylum seekers who enter the U.S. by land (Alexander et al., 2022). Alike Uniting for Ukraine in the U.S., Canada introduced Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) on March 17, 2022. This program was offered in conjunction with family reunification program and allowed Ukrainians and their families to come to Canada quickly with work and study authorization. Due to its unique nature, Ukrainians under the CUAET program are considered “temporary residents” with a work permit for a maximum of three years. Between March 17, 2022 and April 1, 2023, almost 150,000 Ukrainians arrived to Canada under the CUAET program (Thakur, 2023). The volatility of the crisis spawned by the Russian invasion makes it difficult to provide accurate data on the total number of Ukrainian refugees admitted to the U.S. Date of publication but also the types of sources appear to be the determinants for those statistics. As of January 31, 2023, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that over 8 million Ukrainian refugees have been recorded across Europe with close to 5 million of those refugees registered for temporary or other national protection in those European countries. The largest number of Ukrainians fleeing war sought refuge in Poland (1,563,386), following by Germany (1,055,323), and the Czech Republic (486,133). However, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Italy, France, Spain, 30 and the United Kingdom each accepted over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. (Operational Data Portal: Ukraine Refugee Situation, UNHCR). Many people who left Ukraine have not registered as refugees in the countries they are staying adding to the inaccuracies in the statistical data. Additionally, many Ukrainians from the eastern parts of the country were forcibly displaced to Russia and Belarus (Stepniewski, 2022). These numbers change constantly as the war persists; they do not include people who have since returned to Ukraine either. For instance, sources report that in the first twelve days of the conflict, 167,000 Ukrainians, mostly men, returned home to fight (Rush, 2022). Ukrainian Refugee Resettlement and Services, Nebraska Since President Biden’s announcement to welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the U.S., more than 124,000 applications were received from Americans willing to sponsor Ukrainians fleeing the war. In just four months after the inception of Uniting for Ukraine, over fifty thousand Ukrainians arrived in the U.S. through this program. According to the unpublished data by the Department of Homeland Security, the majority of the applications came from the residents of New York, Illinois, California, Washington, and Florida (Montoya-Galvez, 2022). These requests are consistent with the makeup of the Ukrainian-American diaspora, where 55% of Ukrainian immigrants are concentrated in metropolitan areas of New York, Chicago, and Seattle (Montoya-Galvez, 2022). The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP) helps newly arrived refugees establish a new life and self-sufficiency following their arrival in the United States. However, the resettlement of refugees in the local communities is not directly handled by RRP. In Nebraska, the resettlement of refugees is facilitated by the local Refugee 31 Resettlement Agencies – Lutheran Family Services, Refugee Empowerment Center, and Catholic Social Services (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services). According to the data obtained from Nebraska State Refugee Coordinator, 853 Ukrainian refugees have been resettled in the state so far, 228 of them - in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area; 517 – in Lincoln; 12 – in North Platte; 11 – in Kearney; 10 – in Columbus; and other small numbers – in Grand Island, Beatrice, and Hastings (Department of Homeland Security). Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska had the approval from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to assist 80 Ukrainian refugees. Once the organization reached that number, it asked to assist more Ukrainian clients. The organization now reports they assist over 100 Ukrainian refugees (Kellogg, 2023). Lutheran Family Services (LFS) disclose that after the refugees had undergone a rigorous screening process and gotten the refugee status approved, the organization helps resettle them in Omaha and Lincoln. Through the various Community Services programs and the International Center of the Heartland, LFS provides ongoing support for the new residents helping them become acculturated and self-sufficient (Lutheran Family Services). Some of the examples of the programs offered to refugees at LFS are Economic Empowerment which provides employment support services to help refugees identify goals, recognize their skills, and connect with appropriate education and employment opportunities; Immigration Legal Services program which offers assistance with family petitions, citizenship, permanent residency, Temporary Protected Status, etc.; Refugee Support program provides intensive case management to newly arrived refugees which includes help with access to medical appointments, mental health support, 32 medication management, appropriate housing, governmental benefits, community resources and cultural orientation education (Lutheran Family Services). Similarly, the Refugee Empowerment Center of Omaha (REC) provides services such as applications for economic assistance, medical screenings and referrals, social security enrollment, affordable housing, employment search, and other services for the first 90 days of refugee arrival in the U.S. Through their education program, refugees can attend English as a Second Language classes, job readiness, parenting, citizenship, cultural orientation, and driver’s education classes (Refugee Empowerment Center). Challenges and Concerns One of the most pressing issues the newly arrived Ukrainian refugees face is the legal process related to staying in the U.S. The Uniting for Ukraine program as well as Temporary Protected Status allows them to remain in the country for two years. The ones who choose to make the U.S. their home must seek avenues for permanent asylum. That process can be lengthy, costly, and filled with various uncertain legalities (Kellogg, 2023). A law that allows qualifying Ukrainians to apply for a green card (permanent residency) would provide stability for those individuals left without a home and help reunite people separated by war (Kellogg, 2023). While Uniting for Ukraine program allows people who have a sponsor to travel to the U.S., many Ukrainians do not. “People who do not have contacts here may be most vulnerable while waiting in limbo”, states Melanie Nezer, a senior president for global public affairs at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, in her interview with Time magazine (Aguilera, 2022). 33 People who escape unspeakable circumstances in their home countries arrive in the U.S. suffering from numerous health conditions that require specialized care. Refugees from Ukraine are not the exception. The World Health Organization estimated that 500,000 Ukrainian refugees entering Poland alone have mental health disorders (Su et al., 2022). In addition to the arduous journey from war-torn Ukraine and the complexities of the asylum processes, many Ukrainians struggle with the reality of what happened to them (Holt, 2022). As the war continues, it is expected that refugees arriving from Ukraine will suffer from serious mental trauma, dealing with which the United States should be anticipating (Holt, 2022). The vast majority of refugees from Ukraine are women and children while men ages 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country – if conscripted, they have to fight in the war. Women become the sole caretakers for the elderly and children and also the bearers of financial support. According to the U.S. Agency for International Development data on higher education, Ukrainian women are overall better educated compared to European women, and the European Union stated they would recognize and accept Ukrainian refugees’ diplomas (Cindoglu, 2022). That is not the case in the United States. Women with young children need subsidized childcare and help caring for the elderly to be able to go to work now that they are the single heads of households (Cindoglu, 2022). English is not a spoken language in Ukraine. Although many refugees arriving in the U.S. are well-educated and possess professional credentials, the language barrier prevents them from being eligible for employment in their area of expertise. Additionally, organizations and businesses that employ refugees often overlook the need for targeted 34 support, such as language barrier, cultural gaps, and workplace integration (Pesch et al., 2022). Summary Chapter 2 expounds on some of the key components that shape identities of refugees in the Unites States followed by the brief account of how the phenomenon of refugee from Ukraine emerged. This chapter lists the events that led to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. Although not in the spotlight until last year, the birth story of the war began in 2014 (Morgan, 2023, Roman et al., 2022). An overview of the U.S. refugee support programs that historically benefitted Ukrainian minority groups is followed by the unprecedented global response to the crisis. “The United States is proud to be the largest single donor of humanitarian, democracy, and human rights assistance to Ukraine, working closely with our European partners. In addition to assisting people in need within Ukraine, we are supporting the efforts of Ukraine’s neighbors and the European Union to welcome and host millions of refugees. And we will do our part to welcome Ukrainians to the United States” (The White House Briefing Room, 2022). In 2023, Nebraska has admitted a little under 1000 Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war. They receive asylee support services through the local refugee resettlement agencies whose work is detailed in Chapter 2 as well. Some of the early challenges are described in the literature as Ukrainian refugees continue to arrive in the U.S. The unparalleled circumstances under which Ukrainians travel to the U.S., the government and citizenry response to the crisis, the uncertainty for the future, and the despondency mixed with the willpower to survive make the 35 phenomenon of Ukrainian refugees in the U.S. truly extraordinary. This study aims to understand and make meaning of the living experiences of Ukrainian refugees, examine how they reshape their identity in asylum, and what role English acquisition plays in that. 36 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY In this study, I utilized heuristic inquiry approach. Researchers use heuristic methodology to obtain qualitative depictions of situations, events, conversations, relations, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs that are at the heart of a person’s experience (Moustakas, 1990). It is an inquiry that invites the researcher to engage in deep self-reflection, self-discovery, and self-transformation. The domain of heuristic inquiry calls us to linger in silence and solitude and we seek knowledge, meaning, and growth (Sultan, 2019). The term heuristic comes from the ancient Greek word heuriskein which denotes “meaning to discover or to find” (Sultan, 2019). Clark Moustakas, the father of heuristic inquiry, considered this type of research to be qualitative, social constructivist, phenomenologically aligned, and autobiographical (Sultan, 2019). In his 1990 book, Heuristic research: design, methodology, and applications, Moustakas delineates the evident yet profound differences between a phenomenological and a heuristic inquiry which led me to conclude that heuristic methodology is better suited for this study compared to phenomenological (or narrative) inquiry. Researchers conducting phenomenological studies are encouraged to detach from the phenomenon they investigate, whereas heuristic researchers emphasize connectedness and relationship. Phenomenology allows the researcher to define and describe the structures of the experience, and heuristic leads to depictions of essential meanings and personal significance within the research. Phenomenological research usually concludes with the presentation of the structures of the experiences, and heuristic research may incorporate a synthesis full of intuition and tacit understanding. Phenomenology does not include 37 people in the process of data analysis, whereas participants in a heuristic study remain visible in the data examination. Phenomenology explicates the essence of experience, and heuristic research maintains the essence of a person in experience (pp. 38-39). Finally, Sultan (2019) identifies phenomenology as a study of lived experiences, whereas a heuristic inquiry is the study of people’s living experiences. It is interrelated, interconnected, and continuous (p. 8). The experiences of Ukrainians who left their homeland as the result of Russia’s full-scale war can be described in those terms precisely. They live “the refugee reality” every day. They will likely continue discovering what it means to be a refugee for as long as they stay in the U.S. The refugee experience doesn’t stop after a person leaves a war-torn country and starts rebuilding their life in the safety of a host community, it cannot be shut off or ignored. Who are these people who so unexpectedly started emerging in our neighborhoods and our classrooms – foreigners, survivors, exiles, victims, or warriors? Do they know who they are? With this inquiry I bring those discoveries to the surface. Heuristic Inquiry Sultan (2019) states: “All research is guided by theoretical and philosophical foundations and assumptions. The assumptions are the bedrock on which research paradigms are constructed. One of the primary roles of theory is to help us identify our personal assumptions and to create connections between them and our topic of inquiry” (pp. 42-43). Theory provides the foundation for the research, thus, it is important to understand what we do or the research question, why we do it or the research rationale, how we do it or the research methodology, with whom we do it or the research 38 participants. Theory instills empiricism into research and allows the researcher to be in control of the research process (Sultan, 2019). Acquiring knowledge empirically means learning through sensory experiences. Thus, empirically supported research can take many forms including the exploration of rich and complex phenomena. However, all first-person experience is subjective and includes introspection – we cannot exclude perception and meaning-making from empirical processes (Sultan, 2019). I agree that it is impossible to have a completely neutral experience without getting personally involved with it or developing feelings and thoughts about it. Sultan (2019) affirms that a heuristic inquiry begins with the experience of the phenomenon that the researcher feels deeply and inspires the question the researcher cannot ignore. It is a subjective and objective process at the same time. The researcher is wholly involved in it but is able to adopt an observant perspective too. This fosters the search for understanding of the question through inquiry with others who experienced the phenomenon (p. 47). As qualitative research, heuristic inquiry focuses on a concept sparked by personal curiosity, beliefs, and values. Qualitative research is known as exploratory research, and there is hardly a better-fitting inquiry than a heuristic one for exploration and curiosity. The researcher enters the heuristic processes having no expectations about the findings and is open to anything to emerge. This type of inquiry is also inductive as it emanates from personal assumptions and worldviews (Sultan, 2019). Most qualitative inquiry, according to Sultan, follows the social constructivism research paradigm in which there exist multiple realities that are subjectively and socially constructed; it is exploratory with an effort to understand the meaning; it is also reflexive 39 where researcher feelings, beliefs, and biases are made known. From the social constructivism perspective, reality exists because we created it, all learning is internally and socially constructed, and the context of experience is just as important as the experience itself (pp. 53-55). Thus, heuristic inquiry is the epitome of social constructivist research approach. Ontologically, heuristic researchers (and social constructivism researchers) assume that all reality is relative and is constructed based on the person’s contextual and subjective meaning-making. There is no single reality, in fact, multiple realities exist; in heuristic research, the reality is co-created by the researcher and the participants. This co-creation is critical because, in this process, epistemological knowledge (how we know what we know) is created. The researcher should never distance themselves from the participants but rather get even closer to them to facilitate a multilayered emergence of knowledge. Through this close and enduring relationship, the co-construction of reality is facilitated. For that reason, heuristic researchers must be transparent about how their values and beliefs (researcher axiology) are shaping the process of inquiry (Sultan, 2019). Heuristic inquiry requires the researcher to openly acknowledge their values, attitudes, beliefs, and biases and how they influence the research (Moustakas, 1990). Besides qualitative research and social constructivist approach, heuristic inquiry is inspired by many phenomenological concepts (Sultan 2019). Moustakas identified some important distinctions between a phenomenological and heuristic inquiry, which I delineated earlier, yet heuristic research includes many similarities to phenomenology (Sultan, 2019). Both phenomenology and heuristic inquiry are concerned with the illumination of deep meaning; they both attempt to understand the world through 40 persons’ feelings, thoughts, and experiences; they both involve deep reflective, intuitive, and meditative processes; experiences of the phenomena are described in vivid language based on impressions, images, sensory qualities, etc. in phenomenology and heuristic inquiry; they both include the researcher’s personal interest and personal connection to the phenomenon; and both phenomenology and heuristic inquiry promote empathy, creativity, and self-expression (Sultan, 2019). My experience of studying in the doctoral program revealed similarities between a heuristic and narrative inquiry as well. I conducted pilot studies for several courses in which I utilized narrative methodology, and since phenomenology, narrative, and heuristic fall under the umbrella term “qualitative research,” it is not surprising to find parallels in all. One of my favorite descriptions of narrative research is by Connelly and Clandinin (1990) – humans are storytelling organisms who, individually and socially, lead storied lives. The study of narrative, therefore, is the study of the ways humans experience the world. Furthermore, narrative is a way of characterizing the phenomena of human experience, and it may sociologically concern groups and the formation of the community (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Deep and meaningful studying of narrative research in this program informed my interest of heuristic inquiry. The two closest connections between a narrative and a heuristic inquiry I identified relative to this research project were: 1) both narrative and heuristic inquiry would help to describe the phenomenon of escaping the war through the eyes of people who are experiencing it in real time, and 2) both approaches would help understand how Ukrainians construct their new identity as asylees, individually and as a group. 41 The beauty of narrative studies is that there are no strict defined procedures about how they must be conducted. The central task is clear when we are able to understand that people are living their stories in an ongoing experiential text and telling their stories as they reflect upon life and explain themselves to others at the same time (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Similarly, heuristic inquiry acknowledges that people sense, feel, and think about certain phenomena differently; the are included in the research process, making for a very personal and communal journey of discovery (Sultan, 2019). There is no one prescribed way to conduct it. Finally, all qualitative studies emphasize inductive reasoning, collecting data in a natural setting, and understanding participants’ points of view. With the focus on understanding those views and their meaning, qualitative research aims to get to the data as closely as possible. Its goal is to obtain a detailed “thick and rich” understanding of how participants view the studied phenomenon (Guetterman et al., in preparation). Keeping the research questions and research purpose in mind helps in selecting the best methods for the project. The research purpose addresses the researcher’s practical, intellectual, and personal goals. Research questions focus on the inquiry by posing the questions that the researcher wants to address (Glesne, 2016). Glesne (2016) further explains that personal goals emanate from what motivates the researcher to do the study and relate to personal experiences; practical goals pertain to what the researcher tries to accomplish in their field of study; and intellectual goals help with defining the research statement or what it is the researcher aims to understand. As an administrator of the largest adult education program in the state, I work with the most diverse groups of people in our community – immigrants from all corners 42 of the world, Americans who are basic skills deficient, migrants who plan to go back to their home countries, people re-entering society after incarceration, refugees, minors who recently dropped out of high school to name a few. Years of serving these populations led me to believe that English learners who escape terrible circumstances in their home countries and are granted asylum in the U.S. differ from those who come here by choice. I study how the experiences of refugees are different, and how my program, which is competency-based, can serve them most effectively. That is the practical goal of this research. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 forced millions of Ukrainians to leave their homeland. My family left Ukraine as well, although the war was not the reason for that. Seeing and meeting refugees from Ukraine for the first time and my Ukrainian background presented a unique opportunity to study this previously unknown group, record and tell their stories fulfills my personal goals for this project. Intellectually, I aim to capture how refugees from Ukraine construct their new identity in asylum and what it means to be a refugee from the Ukrainian perspective. Qualitative Design and Rationale The purpose of this study is to examine how refugees from Ukraine shape their identity in asylum and what role English language acquisition plays in that process. This study heuristic research methods to fulfill this purpose. Heuristic inquiry explores subjective experiences of a particular phenomenon within a purposive sample of individuals (Sultan, 2019). The intention is not to separate the individual from the experience but to focus on the exploration of the fundamental nature of the relationship between both, as prescribed by heuristic inquiry. 43 Formulating the Question For many qualitative researchers, the goal is to reach the final destination in their quest for inquiry, “the place where things matter.” For heuristic researchers that place is informed by the research question and by the researcher’s personal experience of the phenomenon (Sultan, 2019). Moustakas places an even stronger emphasis on the research question: “heuristic inquiry begins with the internal search to discover, with an encompassing puzzlement, a passionate desire to know, a devotion and commitment to pursue a question that is strongly connected to one’s own identity and selfhood” (p. 40). It is critical that the question holds the researcher’s curiosity and tireless involvement throughout the entire process, therefore, the question should be formulated clearly and simply. The way the researcher poses the question will determine what events, relationships, and activities are relevant to the elucidation of the phenomenon (Moustakas, 1990). The images of Ukrainian women and children at the overcrowded train stations trying to get to safety will be forever ingrained in my memory. Did any of them know where they were going? How many had a plan, an arrangement, or hope? Did they realize they would be leaving Ukraine forever? What did that feel like? I know I writing for most Ukrainians living in the diaspora that those images, those reports urged us to do something – help in some way, be useful. Some of us organized the shipments of essential humanitarian aid – non-perishable foods, medical supplies, clothing, and approved military gear that could be purchased at the U.S army surplus stores. Some chose to donate to established humanitarian organizations actively working in Ukraine and neighboring countries while others donated their time volunteering, raising funds and 44 awareness. The Uniting for Ukraine initiative allowed U.S. residents to sponsor Ukrainian refugees and bring them to the United States. Yet, a year later, I know I am writing for most Ukrainians in the diaspora that the feeling of helplessness is stronger than ever. The war is still raging, and unsurmountable loss and suffering persist. For every person we can assist, there are dozens – hundreds – destitute Ukrainians living in perilous conditions not knowing what tomorrow will bring. I don’t consider my experience with the phenomenon of Ukrainians fleeing war autobiographical, which appears to be the requirement for heuristic inquiry. However, it is deeply personal. After I met Oksana and her husband on that crispy afternoon in November, the question immersed from within me steadily until it swaddled my body and mind entirely. Were the experiences of other Ukrainians who fled the war the same as Oksana and her husband’s? What did other Ukrainians make of them? The questions lingered within me for weeks. It is because of my deep awareness and direct knowledge of the various experiences of Ukrainians, that I was initially hesitant to study their emerging refugee identity. While reading Moustakas’ Phenomenological research methods I discovered his and later Nevine Sultan’s works on heuristic inquiry. I intend to utilize the information exemplified in those publications to guide this research. Processes of Heuristic Inquiry Despite high tolerance for the uncertain and generally creative research approach in heuristic inquiry, fortunately, the experts developed a structure for conducting heuristic research. Its methodology consists of processes and phases, that are by no means linear, however, they intend to mitigate some of the obscurities of heuristic inquiry. It is critical 45 to mention that processes and phases do not function independently from one another but are designed to work together and all at once (Sultan, 2019). Firstly, through exploratory open-ended inquiry, the researcher must immerse themselves in the active experience, and become one with the question in order to understand it. This process is called identifying with the focus of inquiry and entails becoming engrossed in the personal experience and understanding how the researcher and others interact with it (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). Sultan (2019) provides some examples of the questions the researcher might ask while identifying with the focus of inquiry: what do I know about the topic? What might others know about the topic, and how did they learn about it? What is my primary question about the phenomenon, and what are some best practices for finding answers? What sources should I use for additional information? What will be my strategies for data collection? (pp. 81-82) While immersing oneself and becoming one with the question, the researcher should engage in self-dialogue. It is the critical beginning, according to Moustakas, because if one is going to be able to discover the qualities that create the essence of the experience, one must start with oneself (p. 16). Self-dialogue is a highly reflective continuous exercise in which the researcher engages and reengages with perceptual, emotional, cognitive, and sensory experiences of all parts of the phenomenon. Its purpose is to gain a holistic understanding of the phenomenon through self-exploration and self-disclosure (Sultan, 2019). For the duration of the study, I intend to keep a journal as it is a great device to express thoughts, ideas, and daily musings. This will allow me to maintain awareness of the emotions I might experience as well as help my body, mind, and feelings work in sync. 46 Moustakas (1990) considers tacit knowing the foundation of all heuristic discovery. This process is revelatory; it allows the researcher to understand the meaning of the question or topic implicitly and as a whole from the understanding of its individual parts (p.20). Sultan (2019) states: “we work with personal knowledge of phenomena we understand deeply (based on a variety of past experiences) without being consciously aware of the particular experiences that have constituted that knowledge or understanding. Because we have no direct sources from which to draw information about these phenomena, they are tacit, implicit” (p. 87). Both Moustakas and Sultan agree that in scientific inquiry, there must always be room for explicit and implicit knowing, especially if the inquiry concerns human experiences. Many qualitative researchers use personal experience in identifying the topic of inquiry or question, collecting, and interacting with data, and so on. Curtailing tacit knowing in research will restrict possibilities for discovering knowledge and viewing things from different angles (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). There exists a domain between the explicit and the tacit – intuition – which also plays an important role in heuristic inquiry. Intuition makes immediate knowledge possible without intervening steps of logic and reasoning, it also makes it possible to perceive things as wholes (Moustakas, 1990). With tacit knowing, we do not possess tangible information to understand the phenomenon, but intuition helps us reinforce our understanding. We use subjective and objective experiences, observations, and perceptions to form “the wholes” in our heuristic inquiry with the help of intuitive cues. Intuition also helps us guide our encounters with recurring patterns and themes during the research process, as well as create new knowledge and meaning (Sultan, 2019). Since 47 heuristic processes are nonlinear, I anticipate utilizing intuition in determining the next move in the research process working between explicit and implicit experiences. Indwelling is the process of turning inward to seek deeper comprehension of the nature of a theme of human experience. The indwelling is conscious and deliberate; however, it is not logical (Moustakas, 1990). To understand the living experiences of Ukrainian refugees fully, I will dwell inside the major parts and draw from them every possible nuance, fact, and meaning, as prescribed in Moustakas (p. 24). Sultan (2019) recommends practicing indwelling repeatedly because it will eventually foster new knowledge that will add to what I already know or understand. This will hopefully facilitate transformation and growth (p. 91). Another component of the heuristic process that the researcher needs to engage in is focusing. Moustakas advises tapping into thoughts and feelings that are essential to clarify the question, getting a handle on the question, making the contact with core themes, and explaining the themes. Focusing allows the researcher to remove the clutter and see things as they are; it prompts the contact with the necessary awareness into one’s experiences (p. 25) Heuristic research focuses on processes and the personal nature of experiences. Focusing invites to remain open and accept the research process, with that inviting the transformation in all members of the research team (Sultan, 2019). The basis for all heuristic processes, regardless of whether they involve explicit or implicit knowledge, lies the internal frame of reference. When we want to learn about the experiences of other people, we need to have an open and deep conversation with them, oftentimes, more than one meeting is required. The participants must express themselves, explore their minds, and search for their own meaning in the information they share. 48 They need to feel free in the environment the dialogue takes place, they need to trust the researcher. On the other hand, the researcher must be most attentive and empathetic to the vulnerability unfolding before them. Moustakas (1990) states that through attunement and a profound understanding of others, the most significant awarenesses develop (p. 26). Sultan, however, reiterates the importance of maintaining the balance between the researcher’s attunement to their personal experiences and empathy and the intersubjective experience occurring between the researcher and the participants. Too much focus on the researcher’s inner experience may undermine other processes of the research and distract from the we-orientation essence of heuristic methodology (p. 92). I completed data collection shortly after my proposal defense and spent a lot of time with the data in its original Ukrainian before completing its transcription and translation. That time allowed me to meet the expectations of the heuristic processes. Various aspects of the circumstances created by the war in Ukraine have been a part of my reality for two years now, and the numerous stories of refugees have been present intentionally and unintentionally ever since I became the administrator in adult education. Over and over, I reflect deeply on my understanding of refugee experiences, I wrote papers about my work with refugees as well as about my own stories as a newcomer from Ukraine for the coursework in this program. With this project, I throw light on the experiences of people fleeing the war in real time, and how those living experiences shape peoples’ identities. Phases of Heuristic Inquiry The research design of a heuristic inquiry consists of six phases: initial engagement, immersion, incubation, illumination, explication, and creative synthesis. 49 Sultan (2019) explains that one or more processes described above are utilized in the six phases of the research. Processes and phases work in concert with one another to support exploratory, introspective, experiential, and relational aspects of heuristic research (p. 94). In the initial engagement phase of heuristic research, one discovers a problem or a topic that is of critical interest and holds an important social and personal meaning. It is the first phase of the study and with the help of self-dialogue and inner search, it prompts the researcher to arrive at a core question (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). There is no specific method for initial engagement due to the exploratory nature of the heuristic inquiry. My initial engagement with the topic was broad and hazy. I wanted to help refugees from Ukraine tell their stories, but my original question about the “shared experiences of Ukrainian refugees” lacked clarity. Active reading and learning about the nuances of heuristic research, thinking about it through the lens of key themes of my inquiry – fleeing war, loss, immigration, resettlement, future, and hope – and discussing the themes extensively with my family and colleagues, helped me to formulate and refine the question. Using the tenets of heuristic inquiry, this study attempts to answer what it means to be a refugee from the Ukrainian perspective and how learning English influences the construction of refugee identity. After the question is discovered, the researcher is expected to live the question in waking, sleeping, and even dream states (Moustakas, 1990). This stage is called immersion and involves becoming intimately connected to the question; the question is the center of the researcher’s life. Sultan (2019) mentions that the researcher engages in 50 immersion with different levels of intensity at different points of the study, it is highly ambiguous and is expected to saturate various parts of the study from the beginning to the end (p. 96). I immersed myself in the question multiple times, most vividly during the transcription phase of the research. I reflected on my experience with the phenomenon (meeting and getting to know Ukrainian refugees who joined our community, learning about their perspectives on moving to a foreign country, and comparing them with my own recollections, and so on). The next phase – incubation – requires the researcher to withdraw from the intense and focused attention on the question and engage in activities unrelated to one’s research. Moustakas (1990) states that even though the researcher is not fully absorbed in the topic during the incubation phase, growth takes place nonetheless, where tacit knowing and intuition continue to clarify and extend understanding (p. 28). Incubation is accurately described as the “sleep-on-it” phase because the certainty of arriving at the final destination allows the researcher to leave the matter for a while (Sultan, 2019). Being cognizant and forcing the incubation phase was one of the aspects I appreciated the most. Illumination is the process of discovery, in which new dimensions of the experience reveal themselves to the researcher. They were distant previously but suddenly emerge into the researcher’s awareness (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). A great example of illumination is described in Sultan (2019) - we drive the same route every day while seeing the same things on that route. Then, one day we notice something that has always been there but was not noticeable until that moment of illumination (p. 97). 51 The purpose of explication, according to Moustakas, is to fully examine what has awakened in consciousness to understand multiple facets of meaning. Focusing and indwelling are mostly used in explicating a phenomenon, where the researcher creates an inward space and discovers various nuances of the phenomenon (p. 31). This process serves as preparation for the creative synthesis phase because in explication, the essence of the experiences is refined. The researcher prepares an individual depiction of the core themes collected from each participant’s raw data. They then create a holistic explication – a presentation of the findings of the study followed by a composite depiction, which is a holistic presentation of the themes. Finally, the researcher generates exemplary portraits that identify the universal themes of the study (Sultan, 2019). Creative synthesis is the final phase of the heuristic inquiry and includes the researcher’s personal undertaking, all raw data, and final findings in order to create an interpretation that accurately describes the experience as a whole (Sultan, 2019). Tacit knowing, intuition, and self-searching are the guiding concepts in creative synthesis (Moustakas, 1990). Both Moustakas and Sultan suggest that creative synthesis can be expressed in such forms as poems, stories, drawings, collages, and others. Research Participants At the time I set off to collect data for this project, there were sixteen Ukrainians in the non-credit English-as-a-second language (ELL) program at Metro Community College in Omaha who enrolled in the program after the beginning of the Russian invasion. Eleven were female and five – male. To qualify for adult education services, individuals must be over eighteen years old. The representation of Ukrainians in the program is quite different now; several have stopped attending altogether, some 52 transferred into credit ELL program, and there are multiple students who enrolled in the program recently. I recruited the participants via email in English and Ukrainian. The emails were sent out to all sixteen students because their intake date after February 24th, 2022, didn’t automatically imply that they were all refugees. The students had to self-identify as refugees from Ukraine and then voluntarily considered participation in the study. I sent electronic copies of the consent form that incorporated detailed information about the study, including the parameters of their participation and the right to withdraw from the study with no consequences. The consent document was formulated in the participants’ native language – Ukrainian – so they could understand it fully but also grasp the nuances of the project, that way they could make the most informed decision. They signed the consent forms in person before the beginning of the interviews, three of which I conducted in my MCC (Metropolitan Community College) office and two - in a small conference room on campus where the students attended ELL classes. I offered all of the participants a neutral location or coming to the location that was most convenient for them. They all chose to be interviewed at MCC. My assessment of that decision is that college campus was already familiar to them. The familiarity with the location created a sense of comfort during a potentially painful and distressing conversation. I secured participation of five individuals for this study – four female and one male. Their age raged from 23 to 58 which may offer generational differences. One participant brought her 6-year-old daughter when she left Ukraine, and two participants were able to accommodate their adult children to come to the U.S. after this research was completed. Those adult children are currently attending MCC’s ELL program as well. 53 Table 1. Participant Demographics Participant Age Gender Professional Background Olha (Olya) Bevza 23 female Rokytne Professional College, Chef; worked at a restaurant in Kyiv Olena (Alyona) Serafino 33 female Engineer-technologist; worked in a factory lab Oksana Dekhtyarenko 54 female Finance; Director of a regional bank in Zhytomyr region Leonid (Lyonya) Bielsky 58 male Mechanical engineer; owned plastics business Olga Mashtakova 40 female Masters in political science and public administration; Chief of Internal Communication in Media Group, Ukraine I disclosed that besides potential meaning-making, the study offered no other benefits to the participants. To my knowledge, there weren’t any exclusion criteria that would deem students in the Adult Education program ineligible to participate in the study. I conducted interviews with five refugees from Ukraine – four female and one male, and I believe the interviews provided sufficient information to inform the questions of this study meaningfully. Data Generation: Conversational Interviews Following the recommendations of the renowned scholars in heuristic research, the most fitting method of collecting data for this study was through conversational interviews. Often, heuristic investigations take the form of dialogues with oneself and research participants. The intention behind the use of dialogue is to allow ideas, thoughts, feelings, and images to unveil themselves naturally (Moustakas, 1990). For that reason, it was difficult definitively convey to the Institutional Review Board how many meetings would be required or their duration. I anticipated that due to the deeply personal nature of 54 the stories, the participants should not be restricted by time. Additionally, the story should naturally come to an end which signals that the data collection is over. The longest interview I conducted was slightly over two hours, however, the participants are I texted multiple times after data collection was completed. I spoke with Oksana and her husband for an hour and a half the first time we met, there was no agenda, no expectations, and no structure. I remember yearning for the continuation of Oksana’s story and coming up with more questions at home later. This might have been the starting point for the lingering question that lied the foundation for this project: how do people from Ukraine who just escaped the war, with nothing to their name, experience changes in their personhood? Moustakas (1990) states that a conversational interview or a dialogue is most consistent with the flow of heuristic inquiry and search for meaning. It aims towards expression, elucidation, and disclosure of the experiences. The participants should be able to say freely what they think and feel, and what emerges in their awareness when the phenomenon becomes the focus of their attention (p. 46). The questions should unfold naturally between the researcher and the participants, however I composed open-ended suggested questions for the participants. For a novice researcher such as myself, the list of questions helped with structure for data collection and organizing the topics I explored with the participants. Additionally, prepared questions provided consistency for this study. Data Organization, Analysis, and Synthesis Moustakas (1990) indicates that the data collected in the heuristic inquiry must depict the experience in accurate, comprehensive, and rich terms. Oftentimes, those 55 depictions are presented in the forms of stories, examples, conversations, and analogies (p. 49). Conducting interviews in Ukrainian fulfilled that task well - participants were able to express themselves in the most open and natural way. I recorded the interviews on a portable recording device; I then transcribed and translated the interviews into English. Sultan (2019) discourages contracting transcription out to a service because the transcriber would not have experienced the live encounter with the participants that rendered the interviews the unique relational artifacts they are. In addition, participants are real people with narratives that have deep meaning for them, and a transcriber would not be familiar with the topics and dynamics of the interviews. I listened to different parts of interviews multiple times in the process of indwelling (returning to the phenomenon repeatedly with a goal to discover its essential qualities) but also during the phase of immersion in which I discovered that some of my assumptions about the topic were self-motivated, and it was critical to truly understand how the participants experienced the phenomenon. Listening to the interviews repeatedly, using full-body engagement allowed for the high levels of presence and attunement (Sultan, 2019). However, even though I believe I was intimately familiar with data, the transcription did not flow as smoothly as Sultan (2019) suggests it should. Being a native speaker of Ukrainian has given me a truly unique opportunity to expound on the areas of research not available to others. However, I overlooked the challenges related to transcribing audio to text in Cyrillic. Firstly, even when I switched Language Preferences from English to Ukrainian on my laptop, the standard laptop keys display Roman alphabet only – I needed to purchase a wired Cyrillic keyboard. Secondly, I overestimated my ability to type quickly in Ukrainian. Having not done it professionally since I emigrated to the United Stated, it 56 took approximately two months to complete the interview transcripts. Translation process, on the other hand, turned out to be quite effortless. This may be attributed to the fact that I spent an immense amount of time with the data in Ukrainian, I may have been subconsciously translating it in my mind before writing it down. I do not take my ability to understand Ukrainian for granted and did my best to produce the most comprehensive set of data possible. Extensive knowledge of the research materials and data is essential in heuristic inquiry. The translation of the interviews allowed me to get to know the data intimately while constantly immersing myself in it (Moustakas 1990). I organized all data, including emails and text messages we exchanged with participants in the depiction of their experience so they portray the entire story. Once I fully understood and lived in the completed stories of the participants, I explicated essential qualities and themes. The expert advice about data analysis is not to use data-crunching software for coding because heuristic research is highly imaginative and creative, and the best way to perform data analysis is for the researcher to do it themselves. It is important to review all content of the data holistically when identifying themes, including documents, artifacts, and such, because it helps to preserve the wholeness of each participant’s story (Sultan, 2019). I am not an experienced researcher, however, and for that reason I utilized MAXQDA software to help me stay organized in the ocean of data I collected. I manually assigned various codes within the topics covered in the interviews. This was highly beneficial for the illumination phase of the research in which, according to Moustakas, knowledge surfaces into conscious awareness, and that is where discovery takes place. 57 Creative synthesis is the last part of the research process which happens after all interviews are completed, transcribed, and organized. It encourages a characterization of the phenomenon with a high degree of freedom which may seem counterintuitive in an empirical research. This final product is personal and allows the transformation of data from its original format into an aesthetic illumination of the phenomenon (Moustakas, 1990; Sultan, 2019). Following the prescribed format for heuristic inquiry, I wrote a Letter to Motherland that serves as a creative synthesis for this study. It follows Chapter 6: Conclusion and Future Research section. Trustworthiness The validity in heuristic inquiry cannot be measured statistically; validity is rather a matter of meaning. It is explicated through the depiction of the experience from the researcher’s own exhaustive self-search and from the participants’ deep and meticulous accounts. Explications that are presented accurately and comprehensively add to the validity of heuristic research. Because the researcher comes back to the data over and over, checking for additional meanings, evaluates the significance, and judges data constantly, he or she achieves a valid depiction of the experience being investigated (Moustakas, 1990). The research verification, according to Moustakas, is enhanced by returning to the participants and sharing the meanings and essences that derive from the data analysis (pp. 33-34). I have stayed in touch with the participants of this study not only for data verification and validation but on personal level as well. A few weeks ago, one of the participants reached out to me with another referral to my program – a new refugee from Ukraine was interested in learning English. He expressed gratitude for my work and asked for help to get the new person enrolled in the ELL classes. That moment 58 led me to experience deep gratitude because I was able to create a trusting relationship and realize without them my participants this project would not exist. Ethical Considerations This research project attempts to inform the reader on the essential nature of individuals escaping war and becoming refugees in a foreign country, which are deeply personal human phenomena. Throughout the project, I was committed to creating and maintaining high ethical guidelines. The participants’ rights, dignity, and comfort were my primary considerations. In heuristic research, ethics apply to multiple issues, including but not limited to becoming aware of the topic, proposing the study and getting it approved, designing and executing, managing relations, communicating findings, and more. Heuristic studies are personally oriented, and it is not a question of whether ethical issues arise, but when they do – how the researcher handles them is the key concern (Sultan, 2019). Participants in this study were given informed consent document that incorporated details of the study, including the parameters of their participation and the right to withdraw from the study with no consequences. I clearly communicated the freedom to withdraw from the study as failure to do so would have compromised the integrity of the study. I made every effort to communicate clearly and not omit any details either because omission of information would not accurately represent the relational and participatory nature of heuristic research (Sultan, 2019). Some of the dilemmas I have been struggling with throughout my history of studying refugees in the doctoral program are anonymity and confidentiality. Neuman (2011) suggests anonymity (participant remains nameless) and confidentiality 59 (information is released without linking individuals to it) should be maintained throughout the research process. Furthermore, Lichtman (2013) states that any group or organization participating in the research has a reasonable expectation that its identity will not be revealed. I strongly believe that in the research involving refugees, anonymity and confidentiality contradict the intent of the factual portrayal of the experience and deny participants agency. In an earlier research project, I conducted in this program, a participant, who was also a refugee, insisted I use her real name. She was eager to share her story with the world, and the pseudonym would take away her ownership of the story. For that reason, I gave the participants in this study a choice of using a pseudonym or their real name; this was delineated in the consent form as well. I discussed the use of real name with them and the consequences that come with that decision. None of my participants chose to use a pseudonym. The purpose of this study is to unveil some of the most painful experiences in the lives of Ukrainian refugees. Recalling and communicating the memories of those experiences was difficult for the participants. I discussed the risks associated with the awakening of intense emotions and their effects on all individuals before the study began. At the end, all participants stated they were glad they agreed to share their stories, they were also grateful I asked. As for my own risk awareness, I regulated it through constant reflexivity. Years if working with English learners, many of whom are refugees and getting to know newcomers from Ukraine allowed me to develop an intuitive sense in which mental and emotional limits wouldn’t be blurred. Intuition and the phase of incubation alerted me when I needed to separate myself from the project and engage in unrelated tasks, even for a short period of time. Open dialogue with my committee 60 members, colleagues, and peers helped to balance the intensity of the topic and the acumen required to complete the research. 61 CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS: (RE)CONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES At the beginning of the data collection, I encountered difficulty with recruitment. Out of sixteen enrolled and regularly attending ELL students from Ukraine, I was able to recruit five which wasn’t something I initially anticipated. There are twenty-one Ukrainian students in the program now (March 2024). Speculatively, this might have been due to various reasons from unwillingness to re-live traumatic experiences to remnants of post-soviet distrust toward people who seek to record one’s life. After the interviews were completed, all participants thanked me for my inquiry and for the opportunity to share their stories. In fact, they stated they were surprised anyone would be interested in them. For me, learning the participants’ histories, was one of the most revelatory experiences as an educator, a scholar, and an immigrant. Three major aspects of the participants’ lives help them in shaping their identity in the U.S. – faith, work, and English language acquisition. They explicated them in myriad ways, comparing their past and present, expressing frustrations and hopes, and sharing anecdotes and gossip. Faith, Work, and English Language Acquisition are the three major themes I discuss as a result of this study. Before delving into the elucidation of the themes, I mention their role in the participants’ lives pre-exile. Some parts of human identity do not materialize suddenly, they aren’t spontaneous creations. They live within us, sometimes dormant, sometimes obscure, and it takes a cataclysmic event to bring those parts to life. That’s why it is important to provide the context for each emerging theme in the participants’ lives before their departure from Ukraine. 62 Faith: The Grounding Factor Participants’ religiosity played a tremendous role in their lives before the war. They were churchgoers, they had close relationships with other parishioners, they prayed, and they trusted God. However, unlike some other refugees whose stories I read, for whom preservation of faith in exile was a matter of pride, for these Ukrainians, faith transcended borders and the tumultuousness of their experiences. Piety was not a brand-new identity trait discovered in asylum. The participants carried it with them through their journey by which it grew stronger; the gravity of faith could not be missed throughout this research. Faith Pre-Exile: Depictions of God, Church, Family, and Community I begin with the portrayal of faith because this was the theme clearly visible, and agonizingly palpable among all participants. As an ethnic group, Ukrainians have undeniable faith in the higher power which they trust completely. All interviews were permeated with the mention of God even when the discussion was unrelated to anything spiritual. Olga Mashtakova left Ukraine with her 6-year-old daughter on the morning of February 22, when the first bombings started. But when describing her relationship with her father, she stated: “When I got pregnant, I begged God – don’t let her be a Capricorn” - also the zodiac sign of her father). Similarly, Olya Bevza, when describing how she spent the nights in the underground cellar because sleeping in the house wasn’t safe, said: We sat buckets on the floor and a wooden plank on top of it; that way it was possible to sit on. Mom lowered down warm blankets, and I brought fresh water. That’s how we spent the nights. I couldn’t listen to music, nothing. Every little 63 noise terrified me. I just laid down and listened, and maybe drifted to sleep. I was frightened that I would have to get up and run, but my brother said: “Do you not trust God? What are you worried about?” Olena Serafino, who goes by Alyona (a common nickname for Ukrainians in eastern and southern parts of the country) was a parishioner at a church in Odesa where she lived. She shared that many people sought comfort in coming to church after the start of the invasion: “[people] just couldn’t cope. Then, thank God, they began to bring humanitarian aid, and we were busy distributing food to people.” Faith, as an overarching theme and an integral aspect of the Ukrainian identity of my participants, can be divided into subcategories: God, church, family, and community. When the participants shared the stories of their lives in Ukraine before they left, all subcategories could be clearly identified while existing under the umbrella of faith. When Olga left Odesa on the morning of the invasion, she hoped to go to Vinnytsya where her father lived in central Ukraine. On the way there, however, she heard shots and air strikes everywhere. She realized that the entire country was under attack, and she and her daughter would not be safe anywhere: I messaged my friends. They say: “Come to us, to the States.” I said, “Okay.” I asked my sister to find the nearest border crossing because I had all our papers with me. It seemed to me at that moment that God took me by the hand and led me all the way to Transnistria [the Ukraine-Moldova border]. Oksana Dekhtyarenko shared a similar perspective and trust in God while crossing the Ukraine-Poland border: 64 As I was crossing the border, I saw what it’s like to be a refugee. I understand those people from Syria and from Afghanistan [because I share similar experiences with them]. Those who have not been in such situation will not understand it. Thank you, Lord, that we were not under bombardment [at the border]. Alyona Serafino didn’t want to leave Ukraine and her family. The realization that it was the only option came later. She described the tumultuousness of her experience getting on the train to leave: We went to the railway station, and there were multitudes of people, maybe thousands of people. And they scream, they push, the trains come and go. The police officers let women with children in. They said that in the early days, people just stood in the compartment for 12 hours. We were able to sit for a bit…But, thank God, I’m not sorry. Thank God, I left. But you know, I had such an impostor feeling because I was leaving, and someone else was staying. Later, Alyona and her Ukrainian-American husband reunited in Germany but couldn’t do anything besides wait until The Uniting for Ukraine program was authorized. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine temporarily closed operations shortly before the war, the majority of U.S. diplomats left the country anticipating the imminent attack, and all immigration services were moved online: Then we learned about this program (Uniting for Ukraine) and applied. We know that the Lord is in charge of our lives. We do not believe in miracles. But literally in a week, maybe in two, we received permission [to come to the U.S]. 65 This part of the story was particularly fascinating because miracles as a part of a long tradition in Christianity provide the basis for belief in God; miracles “prove” that God exists. Yet, Alyona’s statement suggests that God’s actions are not miraculous, they are factual. Church appeared to be the only beacon of safety amidst fear and uncertainty. Many people across cities and villages in Ukraine mistakenly thought that churches, being non-military structures, would not be targeted by Russians and would provide physical protection against missiles. Olya Bevza remembers: We slept in church for about a week. We were in such a state that we hoped that the war would end soon, and we would go home – everything would be ok. But the war wasn’t ending, and we needed to do something. Later on, we stopped spending nights in the church but stayed home. Alyona Serafino found distraction in distributing food to the community through her church: We then started the church program. Many of our churchgoers who had children left and very few people remained. Since we lived in an impoverished area, a lot of people started to come to our church. We had some savings, and the church could buy some small grocery supplies. The lines were long. There was a large supermarket Metro nearby. We went there to buy butter, cereal, and later gave it all to people. People just flocked to us. Then we decided to do prayer meetings. We just prayed because we had no idea what would happen next. The structure of a church has the ability to impact the experiences of its members, and simultaneously, its members change the structure of the community to fulfill their certain 66 needs (Choi & Berho, 2015). In the first days and weeks of the war, the church met the needs of the people who sought protection, comfort, and peace of mind but also kept them distracted from the terror of their reality. Ukrainian families usually belong to the same church. The reputed safety haven, the church is believed to protect all family members regardless of whether they are physically present there. It is one of the instruments of family connectedness. Family ties were prominent in the interviews with participants, especially when they spoke about separation from the family. But I felt a sense of pensive acceptance due to their strong faith and that God would protect them and their loved ones. Olya Bevza described her parents’ choice to not seek shelter in the church: There weren’t too many people in the church, however, the ones who were scared came down. My Mom and Dad stayed home. Mom said she wouldn’t leave Dad. We had lots of livestock, and they took care of it. She echoed the same sentiments when I asked whether their mom would like or whether it was possible for their mom to come to the U.S. – she would not leave their dad and brother behind. The confidence that God would keep their family safe was distinct in Alyona Serafino’s statement: “Our mother is a believer, she trusts God. But one day I called, and she says, “Please pray for me because I’m scared. Planes fly very low, and you don’t know if they are ours or theirs.” I cannot imagine what the experience is like to have one’s family in the middle of a war zone. But when the participants shared those parts, they didn’t appear perturbed, those examples were expressed stoically, almost matter-of-factly. 67 In addition to family, the community in the participants’ lives cannot be overstated. Before the invasion, they were all closely connected to their friends and neighbors. The war brought those relationships to the surface even more because they had to rely on their community for comfort, support, and their help in leaving the country. Olya Bevza shared a part of her travels to western Ukraine where a stranger picked her up and drove her to safety in Lviv: She [Alyona] found a volunteer who goes to various hot spots. He took me to Lviv. There I was settled in a church. Everyone welcomed me, gave me food, I was able to take a shower. Then they took me to Lviv railway station. That journey was big for me. It seemed I didn’t have to do anything myself. Alyona was genuine in describing her fear and anxiety living in Odesa in the first months of the war. She was the only participant who openly spoke about her panic attacks, despair, and waking up with the feeling that “something is suffocating me.” Yet, she admitted that leaving was difficult: I didn’t want to leave friends. Many, almost all, lost their jobs. We lived like a big family, went to serve [in the church]. We collected those grocery sets, and distributed them. Some people came to us 10 times a day. We started making lists to keep track of those [people] who already received food. We wanted to make sure everyone got some. Alyona’s statement is one of the examples of how deeply she cared for her friends and neighbors in Odesa, where the church became an anchor of the community. Serving in church was more than an activity for her as a devout parishioner, it gave her purpose and meaning amidst the unpredictability of her situation. 68 As shown above, all components of the participants’ faith – God, church, family, and community – are parts that are closely interwoven with one another, none of them can exist without the other. When analyzing faith in the lives of Ukrainian refugees, I pictured an intricate, carefully constructed bird’s nest. By itself, each piece is just a tree branch or a blade of grass, but altogether they are a structure representing safety, hope, and home, both physical and spiritual. Faith in Exile: Unceasing Attachment to Spirituality Although faith had a significant presence in the lives of these refugees before they left Ukraine, it gained an even stronger hold now, when they are a part of the Ukrainian immigrant community in Omaha. I haven’t studied religious communities elsewhere, however, in Nebraska, Christians make up the majority of the adult population (WorldAtlas, n.d.). Considering that approximately 75% of all adults identify as Christians, Omaha was an overall welcoming community for refugees from Ukraine as relates to their religious affiliation. During the examination of the parts of the interviews when they described their lives in resettlement, the need to connect to like-minded people (in faith) was strikingly prominent. Similarly, the desire to belong to a church and the community was nearly physical, interspersed with judgment and biases towards outsiders. Leonid, who also goes by his nickname, Lyonya, describes his experience of attending Baptist church in Omaha: “There is a question of faith, and there is a question of a speaking club. 80 percent of people go there not because of their faith, but because of the speaking club.” His wife Oksana spoke very scornfully that people who are ethnic Ukrainians come to church and switch to speaking Russian because some of the other parishioners were Russian speakers: “They come to church and switch to Russian. The 69 country is at war. It was just horrible. There is a pastor who came from Kyiv. He has no education. That was a year ago. But there are very good ones there now.” All five participants in this research spoke mostly Russian at home before the war. The invasion awakened their Ukrainian pride and Ukrainian ethnic identity and intensified the necessity to speak Ukrainian. A few times during the interviews, the participants struggled to find the equivalent words in Ukrainian, but they persisted. Russian language is overwhelmingly considered “the language of the enemy” across the Ukrainian diaspora now. Olga Mashtakova, the only participant who had a young child, appreciated the safe family-centered environment in Omaha. Her background is in political science and public administration. She worked as the head of the Department of Internal Policy of the Donetsk region, Press Secretary of the Ministry. She also worked for ten years in the private sector as a Public Relations Officer and served as an international observer during the elections in Kosovo; her professional career before the war had been quite impressive. At the time of our interview, Olga was looking for a job similar to the field she worked in Ukraine. However, when I asked whether she considered applying for jobs outside of Omaha, she stated she liked Nebraska because it was safer in terms of traditional Christian upbringing: “I like the traditional attitude towards the family. I always tell Katya [her daughter]: “You are Orthodox.” Even when considering dreams and plans for the future, the theme Faith and subthemes God, church, family, and community were extremely pronounced in the interviews. When I asked what the future looks like for them, Alyona answered: “It is important to us to be in the church, and we have dreamed for a long time about going to 70 the ministry in Tajikistan.” Then she added that they (her husband and she) were working toward that goal but didn’t know what God’s plans were for them. But concerning her sister Olya, she said: “I think if there is an opportunity in this country, maybe Olya will find a job and be able to support our parents that way. Our brother wanted to come to the U.S. very much. The only one who didn’t want to come was Olya. But I think that God has plans for Olya.” God As a subtheme, the mention of God was prominent when discussing opportunities and when expressing gratitude. My participants didn’t rely on God to provide; however, the good fortune and opportunities were attributed to God looking over them. For them, God was a “protector” compared to a “provider.” There was a sense of caring that they mentioned God in the interviews as if God knew what was best for them. Oksana Dekhtyarenko knew their refugee status allowed them to take free ELL classes: I just want to say, I thank God when we went to the REC [Refugee Empowerment Center] and were told what they could do for us. I heard the word “college” in English, I understood they could help us to start learning the language. However, there was an instance where Oksana conveyed her frustration that (some) Ukrainians rely on God’s will too much instead of getting a grip and achieving success: “I’m tired of hearing “God will provide.” Buy a lottery ticket or something, like that joke.” There is a well-known Ukrainian joke that tells the story of a man who goes to church every day and prays that God helps him win a lottery. After a while, God got tired of hearing the same prayer over and over and spoke to the man in a booming voice: “At least meet me halfway and buy a lottery ticket. 71 Both Olya and Aloyna repeated how thankful they were to be in the U.S.: “It is God’s blessing that we are alive.” They acknowledged the assistance they received from various people and the U.S. government but ultimately, it was God who safeguarded their path here. This suggests that trust in God was ever-so-powerful among these Ukrainians. Church In addition to their gratitude to God, participants shared similar sentiments about the church they belong to in Omaha. Olya Bevza said: “Thank God for the church because that journey has shown me that the church is where you will be welcomed. Even here in Omaha, the church helps us a lot.” Oksana Dekhtyarenko, who is very passionate about the Ukrainian language, spoke about how shameful it was to speak Russian in church considering Russia’s actions in Ukraine. She was pleased to see the changes made in the church and the sermons began to be held in Ukrainian: Now they have very nice guys, they preach well. They preach in Ukrainian. We’ve been there three times. One time we really liked it, because people came from the Lviv region, and this man came out. He spoke very well. For participants, belonging to church also meant the belonging to the community. Although I didn’t think it was appropriate to report on church and community together despite some analogous features between the two subthemes. Lyonya Bielsky said: In America [Nebraska], there is also a question, what church do you belong to? It’s the second or third question that gets asked when you meet someone. What difference does it make what church I go to? We visited Lincoln [with Oksana], and a young woman came up to us and asked: “What church do you go to?” We 72 answered but it was not the answer she hoped for, she turned around and left. As if she has nothing in common with us. Another example of belonging to church equaling belonging to the community can be seen in Alyona’s statement: “We go to a Ukrainian church. But it’s not Catholic, we go to the Baptist church. And we rent, well, our church rents a house for us in the Westside (district). Our church is autonomous.” According to Choi & Berho (2015), ethnic church allows people to maintain the patterns of their identity and solidifies their commitment to a particular ethnic group. Regarding the Ukrainian community, however, the participants were particular about the denomination of the church they belong to. For example, Oksana and Lyonya attended the Baptist church but realized it was not the best fit for them because of the way the services were held and the parishioners spoke Russian instead of Ukrainian. Contrary to them, Olya and Alyona say that the Baptist church they are a part of “helps us a lot” in terms of comfort; the Baptist Church in Omaha rented a house for them as well. As such, while the participants’ sentiments about specific churches varied, belonging to a church seemed to be a significant factor in fortifying their identities in the new community. Family I mentioned repeatedly that separation from family continued to cause pain to the participants. For Olya and Alyona’s parents staying in Ukraine was a choice – they couldn’t abandon their son whose age did not permit him to leave the country due to Ukraine’s conscription policies and the farm animals they care for. Olya shared an incident where the rockets flew right above her parents’ village, they could see them “over the houses.” It happened during a severe storm too that “tore off the roofs of 73 houses, the trees fell too.” When Olya finished the story, she said: “it’s sad, but they are alive, thank God,” attesting that she has accepted her parents’ fate and relied on God’s will to keep them safe. All participants were saddened to be separated from the family they left behind in Ukraine. They expressed sorrow about being apart from the family when talking about their status and adjustments to the new realities in the U.S. Oksana Dekhtyarenko described the details of their asylee status: There is a lot of hassle with travel authorization. Restrictions are difficult because our father is in Ukraine, and he is ill too. May God forgive me, but if there is a need, I will not be able to [go to Ukraine] to bury him. It’s hard. Alyona Serafino hoped to go back to Ukraine and visit her family, and she relied on her faith in God to guide her through: “We don’t know what God’s plans are. Maybe we’ll stay here. I want to go home to see our mom, our house.” Close connection to the family despite the inability to provide protection was exemplified in Olga’s comment that she and her sister support their dad financially: “I send them money every month. My sister and I have an agreement. My father adamantly refused it, but we decided - this is for you.” Helping family with money speaks to the preservation of the identity refugees bring from their home countries. The preservation of family relations as critical for refugees is described in Bilge (2018) – traits that are deemed to be vital to be preserved are religion, language, and family. Furthermore, people communicate their identities through traditions and values that are important to them. It is a well-known culturally ingrained Ukrainian tradition that children are supposed to help and care for their aging parents. Considering the circumstances of the 74 participants, monthly monetary support was the only thing they could provide for their parents. Community Oksana Dekhtyarenko’s struggle and worry about Ukraine’s fate can be seen when she adamantly insisted that the community in their church pray for victory: “They said: “What should we pray for?” I raise my hand and I say: “The war is going on. Our boys are on the front lines. We must pay for our victory.” After attending the Baptist church in Omaha for a while, Oksana and Lyonya joined the Ukrainian Catholic Church (Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church) and became avid supporters of their values and causes. Many people who belong to this church are from the Drohobych region (in the western part of Ukraine near Lviv). Lyonya Bielsky applauded the community’s active participation in the war efforts in the diaspora: “We are talking about the national Ukrainian consciousness. It is very strong (in people from Drohobych).” Oksana Dekhtyarenko shared similar reflections: They hold various events, they sell varenyky, there is accountability in place. And from each sale, they make almost 4 thousand, 3 thousand or more dollars. With those funds, they buy drones. I don’t know, almost 55 drones have already been purchased and sent to Ukraine. That is of great importance because drones are expensive. They send medical supplies too. These people do not care about soul redemption. We love it, and they are so open to life. If you have a problem, you can talk about it. There appeared to be a need for the participants to find their niche in the community in Omaha. Common activities that were rooted in common values, such as fundraising by 75 selling ethnic Ukrainian food were important for Oksana and Lyonya to be a part of. The Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church has its own Ukrainian War Relief Fund, they have been raising money for Ukraine’s war efforts since the beginning, spreading awareness, and holding educational events for children. Utrzan and Wieling (2020) state that the devastating effects of the conflict place a heavy burden not only on the individuals and families but on the community as a whole. Refugees are unable to get back to normality quickly, for some, it is imperative to be able to bond with the community. Work: Dismantling Established Professional Identities It is impossible to exclude work from the identity of a person, no matter how much we argue that work provides livelihood and does not define anyone. Even if we solely work for a paycheck without any aspirations or goals, work is an essential part of our lives. My work in education created a sense of eagerness to study more myself, I parent my son with an immense focus on education, not to mention that there’s hardly a pause in program operations I oversee. If over a third of a person’s life is spent at work, we cannot separate work from one’s identity. As Lyonya simply described it: “If you want to achieve something, you work or you study.” Olga was unemployed locally at the time of our conversation, but she opened a sole proprietorship in Ukraine virtually and works as a communications manager for a book publishing company. Still, she said: “It’s good that I have a job in Ukraine, I work for a Ukrainian company. But I understand that I need a job here. Because I am a resident, I need to pay taxes. I look for opportunities and apply every day.” Work was the second big theme that emerged from the interviews with the participants. 76 Work Pre-Exile: Professional Identities Established To provide the reader with context, the professional identities of the participants in Ukraine were as follows: Olha (Olya) Bevza was a chef. “I worked in a restaurant in Kyiv. I returned home from Kyiv, as there was COVID pandemic. Also, I left on the last day when Kyiv closed, and I returned home to my village of Zhytny Hory.” She worked as a cook in a kindergarten in her home village because that was where her mom worked as well. “I went to work in the kitchen in the kindergarten. After a month, I quit. And then the war began.” Olena (Alyona) Serafino’s occupation is engineering technologist. She worked in a lab at a factory. However, when she moved to Odesa to be with her now husband, there was no work in her field. That was during the pandemic, and she worked at a bakery instead. She shared: My husband and I go to church. We had a small church where my husband was in the ministry. I was involved with child ministry. We lived in a poor area. I also volunteered at a women’s center. We provided help for women who were pregnant. I was more of an administrator there and also helped with housekeeping. That was my life before the war. Oksana Dekhtyarenko was the Director of a Regional Bank in Zhytomyr oblast’ (region in northern Ukraine). She provided many comparisons of her work in the U.S. to her high-demand position in Ukraine: We were a little tired of that life in Ukraine. If you were an owner or a manager, there was a lot of pressure. Always insane deadlines. Those initial stages of 77 capitalism were terrible. People don’t work like that in America. Work is simply a pleasure here. We didn’t work like this in Ukraine. We rest at work here compared to how we worked in Ukraine. Leonid Bielsky, Oksana’s husband, owned a plastics business in Ukraine. He shared his wife’s sentiments: “They squeeze everything out of you in Ukraine!” He was very resolute throughout the interview that even if one cannot work in their occupation from Ukraine, experience matters: “If you come to America, the first thing you should do, is forget who you were. It doesn’t matter who you were there. It is important what you become here. You use the experience you gained.” Olga Mashtakova brought vast experience in public service as the Press Secretary of the Ministry in the Department of Internal Policy of Donetsk. Her last job before the war was in the private sector as the Chief of Internal Communications at the Media Group Ukraine, where there were 2.5 thousand employees. She described her career in the Media Group Ukraine very positively: I worked in Media Group Ukraine. I worked as a Head of Internal Communications under Rinat Akhmetov. I was good. I was allowed to work remotely. I moved to Odesa, a place I love very much. We lived one kilometer from the seashore. Olga also shared: I was in charge, and everything went well. I organized [COVID] vaccinations for the company. You know these problems with vaccines in Ukraine. I had an arrangement with the Health Ministry of Ukraine. We had our own supply line of 78 vaccines. We vaccinated everyone who wanted it - our employees and their families. Media Group Ukraine closed its operations due to the war and changes to Ukrainian legislation. Olga freelanced as a public relations agent for a while, “but a PR specialist does not have good clients. When people have a good reputation, they don’t need a PR agent,” she said. Olga continues to work remotely as a communications manager for a Ukrainian publishing company. Work in Exile: Ongoing Discovery The discussion about work in the United States was long and extensive. The participants in this study were adults who brought work experiences from Ukraine and were able to compare them with the onset of their work experiences in the U.S. The perceptions about work seeped through the participants’ views on faith and church, ELL classes and education, and in their shared stories about resettlement. Those observations asserted that work and sentiments that everyone must work in this country to succeed are an essential part of their refugee identity. Throughout my analysis, I found work as an evolving discovery of oneself professionally in the United States is another important tenet that forms refugee identity. The subthemes that emerged relative to (re)discovery of professional identity are resilience, future dreams, independence, and judgment of others. I explicate them below. Resilience Parsing the resilience subtheme was heavily influenced by my Ukrainian heritage. I have never attributed my accomplishments in the United States to my ethnicity, but the stories of valor, grit, and perseverance make me beyond proud of my people. They also 79 lead me to believe that maybe I do well because of where I come from. There is hardly anyone who would dispute the resilience of the Ukrainian people, the ones who stayed at home and the ones who moved abroad. Resilience related to work could be seen in how the participants channel it into creating opportunities for themselves. The analysis of the parts of the interviews about work revealed the sense of gratitude to have been welcomed to the U.S., but the participants did not take the hospitality and acceptance for granted – they were ready to work for it. The participants shared multiple anecdotes about people, including some Ukrainians, who take advantage of the American social systems and ardently expressed their disdain towards such behaviors. To qualify for asylum in the United States under the Uniting for Ukraine program, Ukrainians must have someone to sponsor them, someone who has passed security background checks and is financially stable to provide support to Ukrainian beneficiaries if needed. For Oksana and her husband Lyonya, it was their son who lives in Omaha with his wife and small child. Oksana stated that before the invasion, she tried to obtain a travel visa to visit her son and his family, but receiving one in the past was nearly impossible. The applicants for a travel visa to the U.S. must be able to demonstrate a strong intent to return to their home country. Since Oksana’s son and his family lived in the U.S. she posed a risk to stay here. This was no longer a concern for Ukrainians who due to their circumstances applied to join their families and friends in the U.S.: [Ironically], our tragedy provides opportunities. It gives [opportunities] to everyone who takes advantage of it. There have never been such opportunities for Ukrainians that have opened up now; and I think that will never happen again. A 80 Ukrainian citizen has the right to study and work in any country in Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. We didn’t even dream that one day they would issue a U.S. visa for me. If there was a question now whether we would go through it again, we certainly would. It’s worth it. Olga Mashtakova, on the other hand, had a U.S. tourist visa before; this was because of her professional status in the Media Group Ukraine and her background in public service. She was one of the first people to arrive and ask for asylum when the war started: “We were some of the first Ukrainians who came to the States. They took pictures of all my documents because they didn’t know what to do with us yet.” She was grateful for the asylum but had no other expectations from the U.S.: I didn’t get benefits from America at all. I am only grateful for Medicaid for Katya [her daughter]. Due to the fact that I did not come via Uniting for Ukraine, but TPS [Temporary Protective Status], we do not receive any support. And I don’t want it. Thank you for the work permit, but I can do everything else myself. Olga was determined to start over without looking back despite the successful career and comfortable life she left behind: “The more you think that you can return home [to Ukraine]; the more you think like that, the more likely you will not succeed here.” When discussing employment, all participants recognized the correlation between hard work and financial stability. To some extent, their efforts to secure good employment were not only important for survival, but they symbolized dignity and independence. For instance, Lyonya Bielsky said: “Why do I, an old man, work overtime? Because I don’t want to live on benefits. I want to buy what I’m used to buying. I know it doesn’t fall from the sky. I’m ready to earn, I’m ready to work 13 days 81 in 2 weeks.” All participants eagerly expressed their readiness and contribute to American society. It seemed that the desire was multi-layered because despite the realization that they may not be able to be employed in the same profession, working meant staying busy, not relying on others or U.S. support systems, moving on, and starting a new life. Future dreams During the interviews, it seemed to me that the participants altered their mindset into thinking their Ukrainian chapter was over. Oksana mentioned it was important to remember that skills were transferable: “If you were an engineer in Ukraine, you would not be an engineer here. But you didn’t lose your skills either. You have to overcome our Ukrainian pride, you need to step over yourself.” The participants believed they needed to look into the future which was admirable to observe because the transformation to “making it in the U.S.” happened so soon after their arrival. When asked about the future, the picture the participants painted for me was vivid, tangible. It seemed as if they’d already thought about it, formed it in their minds, and were striving for it. Echoing Olga Mashtakova’s belief that thinking about returning home would not lead to success in this country, Lyonya Bielsky stated: The first thing I did in America was I forgot who I was. I used to be Leonid Leonidovich there [in Ukraine], and here I am simply Leo. And that’s very important - if you think about who you were, you won’t achieve anything here. Oksana and Lyonya who are both in their fifties lived well in Ukraine: “By Ukrainian standards, we were not poor, our life was financially stable; we were self-sufficient.” Their definition of future success meant being financially independent in the U.S. too. 82 The milestone of making a large purchase, such as a car for Lyonya and renting her own apartment for Olga meant self-determination and hope. Oksana answered what the future looked like by saying the following: Future? - My husband. First of all, I came here on my own, I didn’t know anything. I said I wanted to live in Warsaw; make some money here but go back [to Europe]. We could buy a house in Warsaw and live there happily ever after. That was before I had a car. Then Lyonya bought a car. As soon as that purchase happened, he said: “I’m not leaving Omaha. America is my country.” I’ve already applied for a Green Card for us, and I think we will definitely be [here]. For Ukrainians, especially older generations, owning a vehicle is a luxury. Despite it being a necessity in the Midwest, buying a car was a financial accomplishment for Oksana and Lyonya. If that could happen so quickly, other successes were possible, hence Omaha was a favorable place to put down new roots. Keeping the enjoyable habits and lifestyle they were used to in Ukraine was also essential to maintain. It didn’t matter whether the pleasures were big or small, the participants knew they were attainable through work. For Olga Mashtakova, for example, the future was connected to tangible things that brought her comfort: In my future, my daughter is studying in Washington, D.C. We own a house. I used to have a dog, I am going to get a junior dog. I drink my favorite latte in the morning. My habits are the same as they were before the war. I drink my Italian coffee because I don’t like American. I love my Lavazza. 83 This finding was surprising for me to discover. The vivid depiction of tangible things that led the participants to determine that the U.S. was their new home was unanticipated - I projected it would be something people traditionally hold in higher regard (acceptance in the new environment, opportunities for self-realization, gratitude to the host community). But even Olya and Alyona, whose spirituality stood out among other participants, stated that the future in regard to work meant “owning a business.” It suggested that in spite of the experiences the participants had, a successful future was within their reach if it was financially attainable. Independence The analysis of how the participants view independence led me to conclude that 1) independence is directly linked to financial stability, hence related to work; 2) independence is a goal to aim for, and it depends on successes at work. This also leads me to suggest that perhaps simple conveniences, such as eating at a restaurant or owning a vehicle, combined with safety, already represent a successful life for refugees. Oksana Dekhtyarenko said: I know that this is the only country where you can buy a car without a loan after 6 months of working. Even for a used car in Ukraine, you will not earn enough money in your lifetime. If you want beef, lamb - there are no unattainable gastronomic (problems). If you work, you have enough for rent, to buy any food, even delicacies. At the same time, you can still save [money]. My son bought a house in a year and a half of full-time work. Yes, it’s a mortgage and a $700k mortgage. But it’s a house. 84 In my opinion, this is a great example of the participant’s perspective that good employment leads to financial freedom. However, “financial freedom” was perceived as being able to afford everyday things, it wasn’t a lofty long-term goal to strive for. Lyonya owned a plastics business in Ukraine but because of a lack of English proficiency didn’t qualify (or maybe couldn’t find) work in his field of expertise. He colorfully described his experience of interviewing for jobs he could perform without needing to utilize language extensively. His wife Oksana went to interviews with him to help translate. They were both overjoyed when Lyonya was offered an entry-level job as a machine operator: “He passed the interview successfully, and got the job as the machine operator. Salary: $20 per hour. It is an entry-level job, but we almost passed out. We left there and couldn’t believe our happiness.” Olga Mashtakova explained that refugees from Ukraine need to think about their long-term goals and plans which should be related to their work aspirations: There is the question “of the two years” that is pertinent for U for U [Uniting for Ukraine], for people who came here through that program. I have an acquaintance who came for two years. She is uncertain: “What happens after? How will it be?” No, it doesn’t work like that. I have two years to find an employer who will then apply for a green card for me. That’s what works. The participants’ aspirations were enveloped with goals of achieving financial stability, which was also synonymous with independence and freedom. Olga, Oksana, and Lyonya appeared to have put their past behind them. Besides the deep worry about Ukraine’s future, they were focused on building their lives in the U.S. I couldn’t deduce the same about Olya and Alyona, however, I attribute that to the timing of our interview. 85 Judgment of others I briefly mentioned that the Ukrainians I interviewed for this project viewed U.S. systems of support negatively and as something people take advantage of. Additionally, I realized there was a disconnect between how these Ukrainians view themselves and other people who come from different backgrounds and different life circumstances. When I shared the purpose of my research with the participants, I said I believed that our educational programs and our social services do not assist refugees with assimilation properly. I received a response that social services make refugees “more relaxed.” A deeper dive into such perception may be needed, but based on my other assessments, this could be attributed to the belief that the U.S. already gives people incredible opportunities. There is no need to provide additional relief to people who are able to work. I heard the word “laziness” several times during the interviews. The other reason may be that “support systems” are a foreign concept to us, immigrants from the post-soviet world. The common perception among the Ukrainian diaspora is that one can only achieve success if one works for it. People who do not work are often viewed as lazy and as freeloaders. Oksana Dekhtyarenko works as a case manager whose work partly involves helping refugees and immigrants apply for benefits. She was very vocal about benefits being designed to help people upon their arrival and are not meant to be taken advantage of: You have to do something. Did you come here to stay on Medicaid and benefits? “I will not work, because if I go to work, my benefits will be taken away from me.” Well, how can a reasonable person behave like that? They receive childcare 86 benefits. I believe that a person can receive childcare benefits, but they have to work. You can’t sit at home, lie on the couch, and the state will pay you. I sensed a lot of pride when listening to Olga Mashtakova talk about skills and requirements for various employment opportunities in the U.S. She gloomily admitted she was overqualified for many jobs offered in the Omaha area, but her English language skills did not allow her to consider applying for them yet: I understand why American companies in Omaha put Microsoft Office skills as the requirement on job postings. How can you not know this? I had my first computer in 1998. My dad was a radio amateur, he knew what it was when we lived in Donetsk region. I said I want a computer. For my birthday, he gave me a present – he put together that Pentium [computer]. …[unlike other refugee communities, I believe], Ukrainian refugees are accustomed to a “normal” standard of living. Lyonya Bielsky compared the goals and aspirations he had with other people’s they interacted with. Mirroring Olga’s proud attitude about her abilities, Lyonya proclaimed they (him and Oksana) strived for more in comparison to other refugees from Ukraine who came through the Uniting for Ukraine program: You need to understand that those are people from certain social groups. First of all, I think they are not ready for America yet. They don’t understand what America is. If they did understand, they would be in your position or elsewhere. They do not strive for education. There are exceptions, but in general, these are ordinary people. And these ordinary people do not further their development. I’m 87 not saying it’s good or bad. But such an environment is not suitable for us. With our life experience, with our education, this environment simply does not suit us. Lyonya’s statement speaks to the evidence that people acclimatize to resettlement differently. Trauma and the gravity of the exile experience affect the way refugees are able to bounce back to normality. Additionally, the level of education and background of other refugees seemed to play a role in how Lyonya and Oksana assessed their ability to (re)start their lives in the U.S. It is important to disclose that these subthemes emerged from the interviews with Oksana, Lyonya, and Olga. I interviewed Olya Bevza and Alyona Serafino only two months after they enrolled in the ELL program. They did not have jobs at the time of the interviews. They completed a two-month culinary course with Chef Jamil, the owner of the House of Bah restaurant in Omaha who does community outreach by teaching and promoting African cuisine. Both Olya and Alyona remember the opportunity to work with Chef Jamil warmly: We really enjoyed working with him. It was in April, sometime in March-April. He gave us work. In the beginning, we only watched the cooking process. Then he hired us so we could make a little money. Well, very cool. They are strangers, but they treat refugees very well. In that regard, it was easier for us. Both Olya and Alyona admitted that despite the help and support they received, it was important for them to gain independence. Alyona stated: “Life is more independent here. In Ukraine, I was used that someone made decisions for me. If I want to achieve something, I need to do things on my own. I need to think for myself.” 88 Olya was the only participant who said she wanted to return to Ukraine after the war was over. I concluded all interviews with the question of how the participants viewed their future. Olya shared: For me, returning home. I want to go back to Ukraine. I am very grateful to this country. I am grateful, but I would like to return to my country after the end of the war. I want to invest in and develop my country. I want to open a bakery or a cafe. I love baking, I am a chef myself, but overall, I love the confectionery trade. I want to develop Ukraine in that way. Alyona, whose dream was to travel to Tajikistan for ministry work before the war, confirmed that she still hoped to go and work in the orphanage there once their paperwork is solidified: We understand that we are not going to stay here for a long time. I am very, very grateful to this country. I love American food, I feel free here. I am grateful. I don’t know how long we’ll be here and what happens to our paperwork. But we want to go to the ministry service. At the time of this writing, Olya still lives in Omaha; her sister Alyona has not left for ministry work in Tajikistan either. Instead, they own a small business, a bakery. They make cakes and other desserts for weddings and birthday parties. The overall strong and prominent message that spoke to the emerging identities of my participants was that work is an all-encompassing entity that guides our lives. Only through having good employment in the United States, they feel that they could help their parents and family in Ukraine, maintain their old habits and lifestyle, live comfortably (this term was measured on an individual basis), establish goals, and dream about future 89 careers and possibilities. I can’t think of another tool or artifact that influences every aspect of a person’s life so profoundly and intricately. English Language Acquisition: Connecting to the New World With heuristic inquiry, a researcher strives to answer questions that matter to them on a personal level. Even before I was able to solidify questions for this study, two questions about refugees from Ukraine put me in a state of melancholy. The first one was the struggle to imagine how they are managing the new environment, new people, new systems, especially having lived through some of the most traumatic experiences imaginable. The second was about their ability to express themselves, how they communicate their needs and do they understand the information coming to them. The two dilemmas were personal because from my and my family’s experience – immigration is not easy. It doesn’t matter if your paperwork is in order, if you’re joining your family members who already live abroad, or if an employer recruits you for your valuable skills. Moving to a foreign country by choice is stressful! It’s incomprehensible doing that because of war. Then comes the issue of the language in the host country. Many fellow immigrants can relate to my own experience of sitting in our first apartment and watching Friends with subtitles on a donated TV. I remember receiving my Social Security card in the mail; getting a picture ID was the next step. They told me if I wanted to start learning how to drive, which is a necessity in Nebraska, I needed to get a learner’s permit first. But I failed the test because I didn’t understand the questions. Determination to excel in English came after, and helping others do the same became my professional goal. There are many deliverables in the English-as-a-second-language programs, especially those funded by the government. We always seek ways to improve instruction 90 delivery based on performance measures and state requirements. One of the most challenging pieces in collecting data for program improvement is getting it from people who receive our services, our students. The reason is obvious – English learners are not able to share constructive meaningful feedback in English. Having interviewed refugees from Ukraine in their native language, I hope to have tapped into this scarcely explored area of adult education. Acquisition of the English language was the third theme that emerged in the analysis of the data. The participants were aware that without English, they would not be able to succeed or even feel whole in this country. The thirst for education and being creative about ways to learn more was fascinating to hear and record. The entire English Language Acquisition theme as a part of refugee identity is quite ample. I will report the findings on it within three subthemes: English in educational setting (ELL class), English in socialization, and English in work and career. Firstly, however, to understand the role English plays in forming of identity of new refugees, it is important to illustrate the participants’ relationship with English language learning before the exile. Looking Back at History with English The participants shared that before the war, besides some classes in primary school, they didn’t encounter or need English in their lives. Olga Mashakova, who learned French as a second language said: “I had no contact with English, I was sure that I would never need it.” She shared that her sister encouraged her to sign up for online dating while still in Ukraine and meet a native speaker because it would be a smart way to learn and practice English. 91 Lyonya Bielsky’s primary school had “in-depth” English classes, but he is in his 50’s and said he didn’t remember most of what they taught him. Oksana Dekhtyarenko said that learned it at school for about three or four years, but “then I forgot everything.” She started learning it again about three years before the war. Oksana’s son lives in the U.S. with his new family. She thought she’d visit them someday in the future. When the first protests and the annexation of Crimea happened, she knew she had to send her son to safety: My child participated in the Maidan [protests] in 2014. He came here under Work and Travel in 2014, when Crimea got occupied and then annexed, and there were checkpoints everywhere. The war had already begun, and the LNR and DNR [separatist states] had formed, those “green men” started coming. I sent him to work and travel and spent three months convincing him that his ticket to the U.S. had to be one-way. He had to stay and change his visa to a green card. Even though Oksana learned English in Ukraine, she didn’t practice it. But she recalls: “When the war started, and I crossed the border with Poland, I remembered the language very quickly.” With millions of Ukrainians fleeing the country, she was able to find a job while in Poland at the British Embassy Visa Application Center. Olya Bevza and Alyona Serafino didn’t have much experience with English before the war. The only musing Alyona shared was: “I used to think that English was such a good easy language when Americans came to visit Ukraine.” Even though Alyona’s husband is an American citizen, they spoke Ukrainian and Russian at home; they didn’t plan to live in the United States either. Alyona’s husband had dedicated his 92 life to ministry work, and if the war didn’t force them into exile, they wanted to continue their work with the poor in Ukraine and Tajikistan. English Learning and Identity Discovery I met all participants of this project through MCC’s Adult Education program of which I am the director. It is the biggest such program in Nebraska, so far this program year we enrolled and are teaching 2200 students. We provide classes on MCC campuses and at several organizations in the community with a total of fifteen locations. There are close to ninety instructors and administrators who work for the program. I share these numbers because leading a program like that doesn’t always feel like I am in control. Learning things that happen in the classroom, what is being taught, how students learn, classroom management, and so on from students is wonderful. Especially, if students report overall positive interactions and experiences in the program. English in educational setting (ELL class) is one of the subthemes in the third theme of the refugee identity construct. I expound on it first. English in Educational Setting (ELL class) All participants stated that attending ELL classes has been extremely beneficial for them. Even Olga Mashtakova, who after completing her pre-assessment learned the program couldn’t serve her, stated she enjoyed conversational English classes. When she took her initial assessment, her results were too high, which according to the Nebraska Assessment Policy was considered “not basic skills deficient”. Hence, we could not enroll her in our grant-funded program. Luckily, we offer conversational English classes as well, and she signed up immediately. Olga liked working with the instructor with whom she exchanged personal emails. She said: “Miss Pat [the instructor] used to work 93 in Boys Town with those difficult kids. If she could teach those children, I thought, well, I’m not completely hopeless.” Alyona expressed heart-warming gratitude for the opportunity to learn English tuition-free: “I am very grateful that the education is free, and it is possible to learn the language. For me, it’s a little strange that it’s free.” She shared that teachers in her classes were interested in students as people, i.e. where they came from or the language they speak. She said that her instructor apologized they didn’t know any Ukrainian words to greet her. Alyona then added: “Your courses help people who do not have money. You make an investment in human capital. May God bless those people who make it possible.” Our program offers online classes to people whose schedule or commute hinders them from coming to class in person as well. Lyonya and Oksana started the program by enrolling in online classes: We took our first classes online. Yes, it’s hard, you don’t see the person, you need to understand many things. I was very fortunate with my teacher. I listened to her. When you start the class, they repeat the same thing multiple times. Someone can’t change their password, someone doesn’t understand how to open their email. But she speaks the entire time, she speaks slowly, in an understandable manner. You listen. I just felt better mentally. The participants talked about the overall attitudes in the class and how those made them feel. Olya Bevza said: I like that they don’t fixate on homework. If you didn’t do it, you don’t get dismissed [sent home]. I really like it. I need that for self-esteem. If learning is 94 difficult, if it doesn’t come easy, I will not learn. If learning is easy, I get motivated. A common practice in Ukrainian schools used to be that if a student didn’t bring (forgot) their homework to be turned in for grading, they were sent home to get it resulting in them missing the class. Alyona Serafino compared her experience in college in Omaha and Ukraine: It’s truly better here. The attitude of the teacher. In Ukraine, I don’t know, we were never told “Please come see me if you have questions.” The teacher will only ask what they’ve taught you. There isn’t anything extra, anything hidden. I like that. For instance, I received a bad grade, but she still wrote – “Good job, do better next time.” In Ukraine, they threw chalk at us. One time a flowerpot flew as well. Oksana Dekhtyarenko is a higher-level ELL student; she takes her classes online. She says the online environment is not ideal for language learning, but she sees the benefit of listening to the instructor. Continuous listening to native speaking fosters a better understanding of the language: The teacher has to help everyone. Well, I put on the headphones and listen in a little. Then the lesson goes on for some time, and it’s quite productive. There is grammar, then there are exercises after grammar, reading every time. Reading and answering [the questions]. If it’s a career [discussion], it’s according to Burlington English. Everything is very good. I had to be patient for the first 30 95 minutes and not get frustrated if they repeat for the third time instructions how to change the password. Oksana shared scornful anecdotes that several Ukrainian students have stopped attending the program because they didn’t receive direct instruction or enough attention from the teacher. This is perpetual with students whose English skills or digital literacy skills are higher than other students’ in class. Lyonya Bielsky thought the lack of structure with an end goal was one of the few disadvantages of the program: The only thing I don’t like is that the teachers change every semester. There is no continuity. They all throw something that’s their own at us. I had various teachers. I didn’t see that there was consistency [in teaching]. For me, it’s an oversight. I don’t see the flow. MCC’s non-credit ELL program is designed to improve students’ reading, writing, and understanding of English language. It is not meant to be applied toward a degree or credit program; its sole function is to eliminate basic skills deficiencies. Arguably, the Nebraska Department of Education considers poor English proficiency a deficiency in basic skills. English in socialization The second subtheme in the English language acquisition as a part of identity discovery was how English influences the ability and prospects to socialize; I titled it English in socialization. Socialization, the activity in which refugees engaged with other people, was visible throughout the interviews. It was present during the first uncertain months of the war, the way people comforted one another in distress. Socialization was there on the way to the United States – through the help they received during their travels. For 96 example, Alyona and her husband stayed with acquaintances in Germany. Her husband is an American citizen, but Alyona is not. When the U.S. Embassy left Ukraine shortly after the invasion, someone told them it would be easier to get through to the American Embassy in Germany. Luckily, the Uniting for Ukraine Program was authorized a few weeks later. Socialization is also an integral part of the participants’ lives here – church, family, community – all of that is tightly interwoven with socialization. English in socialization, however, stands out because socializing in English allows for an easier transition into the new environment, it provides steadiness to the adaptation process. Recently Alyona started taking credit classes at MCC – English Writing class and Reading and Vocabulary. She said: “These colleges, they must exist so the refugees can continue their education. For me, personally, this also means support. I started making friends as well.” For Olya, who overall appears outgoing and people-loving, every interaction with non-Ukrainian speakers was pleasant: “When someone says hello to me in Ukrainian, it’s so nice for me. I can’t even express my joy. If they attempt to speak to me in my language, even if it’s only a salutation, it’s so pleasant and brings me comfort.” Olga Mashtakova signed up for online dating and found her happy ending. She said she disclosed her status in the application and that she was solely looking to meet people who she could practice English with. The conversational English classes were not enough for her: “I wanted more. I wanted to learn English much faster because I’m a perfectionist. Because my expectations and my level of communication are much higher.” 97 There were many examples of English in socialization that materialized in the interview analysis. The participants highlighted that learning English in class was just as important as socializing in English. Olya Bevza shared: I need to have a relationship with the person who teaches me, if they appeal to me, if they are approachable. I really like Miss Patsy’s teaching method. She explains, I understand her well; it’s very important to me. When I don’t understand, I won’t be able to go further. I’ll dwell on what I don’t understand, and it keeps me stuck. I made friends in class, I have Miss Patsy. We visit her at her house, we talk. I have friends at Metro - Afghan friends, one Hispanic. In the beginning of our interview Oksana Dekhtyarenko admitted that she was terrified to speak English upon her arrival to the U.S. She said she couldn’t make a phone call without getting sweaty or her hands shaking. Gradually, she gained more confidence in her English skills: “I seem to understand more, but you need speaking skills. I was afraid that I would embarrass myself in front of people.” Olga Mashtakova described her love story in great detail which was fascinating and novel: We communicated through Google Translate. However, I very rarely use Google now. I watch Netflix with subtitles, I watch everything with subtitles. I’m not ready to go to the movie theater yet. I don’t like audiobooks, I am not an auditory learner - I am visual. I need to see the text, the letters. The gentleman she met online with a goal to practice English with is a former Marine with whom she found a lot in common. At the time of our interview, she mentioned they started discussing engagement. Olga described the evolution of her English proficiency 98 from having to utilize a translation app to not needing it because of constant interaction and socialization in English. English in work and career As I mentioned earlier, I interviewed Olya Bevza and Alyona Serafino very early in their American experience. At the time, they didn’t work but only attended English classes. Alyona just completed our non-credit ELL program and started credit classes at the college which she described as a positive experience: “I really like it. I don’t do great in Reading because I don’t understand everything. But it is taught very well. No one there will humiliate you if you don’t understand something.” All participants expressed struggles with learning English but also recognized that advancement was not possible without it. Oksana shared that the “language barrier made us more resilient. I never thought in my life that it would be so difficult. Honestly, we didn’t pick up the phone at all in the beginning when it rang.” She now works as the case manager for the International Council for Refugees and Immigrants in Omaha. She enjoys her work where she is required to write a lot of complex reports. She says: “The communication skills are more or less improving, and terminology is related to my work. But if I need to talk about something else, I don’t feel comfortable. Somehow, I need to find courage and start credit classes.” Another part of the experience with English that Oksana and Lyonya shared was that they utilized the Career section of our Burlington English curriculum to create their resumes and apply for work. Lyonya memorized his entire resume before the interview and the parts from Burlington English in which you tell the employer about your background: “He learned everything by heart. When he was answering, they didn’t 99 believe he didn’t speak English.” My favorite part from that story was when Oksana described how she tailored Lyonya’s resume to the local job market: When our brains started working clearly, I took Lyonya’s and my resume. I copied the experience from Burlington English, where there’s a career description. I said: “Lyonya, let’s think about what we can do here realistically. Yes, you had your plastic business [in Ukraine].” He says: “I was the owner of the business.” “The owner” doesn’t work here. He says he can operate the machine - machine operator. What else? - Fork lifter. You can be a fork lifter. I created our entire resumes with the help of Burlington. Burlington English curriculum is indeed very workforce development and career-oriented. However, I have never met a student who shared its benefits in seeking and finding work. The participants recognized the multitudes of opportunities that open with fluency in English. Oksana said: One can live here on that pay [waiting tables]. In Ukraine, if you wait tables, you can’t afford anything. It pushes some [people] to do more, but sometimes it doesn’t. I will even add that I really like that after ELL, you can study pharmacy. And the courses are tuition-free. You can become a CDL driver, and earn 100,000 dollars a year. Out of all the participants, Olga Mashtakova felt the most comfortable with the English language. Speculatively, this could be because her partner is a native speaker. She was also the only participant who had a school-age child. Having a child in school requires parental involvement with teachers, other parents, homework, etc. This requires more active and robust engagement with English, compared to other participants who only 100 utilized English to the extent needed at work and in their ELL classes. Olga stated: “I don’t need to learn it [English], I need to improve it. That is, I have the foundation. I already downloaded English for Marketing. It has more industry-specific vocabulary.” Alyona Serafino viewed English as a tool to become independent. She relied on the support of her husband who was fluent in English. However, she recognized that was not sustainable and would not be beneficial for her long-term: I stopped wearing pink glasses. You know my girlfriends would say: “You are so positive, you see good in everything.” I strive for that, I always try to believe that not all people are bad. But somehow it [the war] made me more mature. Yakov [Alyona’s husband] wants me to do everything myself. If I want to achieve something, I need to do things on my own. I need to think for myself. Alyona recognized that had she come to the United States voluntarily, she would have immediately wanted to “invest” in herself, build a career, and grow. However, due to the circumstances of her emigration to the United States, she needed time to adapt to the new reality. 101 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION This study aimed to answer the questions of how five Ukrainians who live and work in Omaha and attend the ELL program at Metropolitan Community College construct their refugee identity in the United States and what role English learning plays in shaping it. I collected data through conversational interviews with the participants which is consistent with the recommendations of heuristic research. As soon as I received permission to study Ukrainian refugees who started arriving after the beginning of the Russian invasion of my country, I knew heuristic inquiry was one of the better-suited methodologies to utilize in this project. The matter of Ukrainians escaping war, displacement, trauma, and resettlement in the new world concerned me personally. I knew I could never detach myself and remain neutral while researching Ukrainian refugee experiences. Heuristic researchers emphasize personal significance, connectedness, and relationship to the research questions and the participants. Data analysis in heuristic studies is full of intuition and tacit understanding. The participants in heuristic inquiry are visible in data examination, the essence of an individual remains when depicting their experience (Moustakas, 1990). I maintained all of these attributes throughout this research keeping the phenomena of their experiences alive without removing participants out of their experiences. This is one of the main reasons the use of real names was paramount to fulfill the purpose of this study. Data collection organization and analysis are not separate processes in heuristic inquiry either; the analysis begins as soon as the researcher starts collecting their data (Sultan, 2019). I was able to connect to the participants and their stories deeply and meaningfully by transcribing the interviews in their native Ukrainian and then translating 102 them into English. I also developed personal relationships with the participants, we have stayed in touch with one another about subjects unrelated to this research. Just last night, Lyonya called me to offer unsolicited feedback on his instructor and the ELL class he is currently taking. There are no hierarchies within various data in heuristic inquiry; all data are attributed equal value (Sultan, 2019). In my analysis of the participants’ stories, three major but equal themes emerged which I explicated holistically. Faith, as the grounding factor, a tool that helped the participants cope with their new realities but also provided hope and determination was the first theme. The participants of the study were pious before their move to the U.S., but their spirituality grew stronger in resettlement and became a critical part of their identity. The second theme that emerged in this study was the participants’ (re)discovery of themselves professionally. They brought a vast educational and work experience from Ukraine, navigating the American workforce was challenging, but they knew they had to gain good employment. Despite a strong connection to the past they shared through stories and anecdotes, the participants realized that success meant keeping the skills (from Ukraine) but pursuing new opportunities here. Finally, learning English was the third theme that shaped the participants’ refugee identity. Having had very little experience with English in Ukraine, English learning permeated their definition of achievement, future goals, ties to community, and economic and cultural adaptation. Below I discuss my findings in connection to the existing research on the role of work, language acquisition, and religion in the construction of refugee identity. 103 Identity and Employment Refugees adjust to the new socio-cultural context successfully by combining the skills from their native countries and new skills and knowledge accumulated in the host countries (Guler et al., 2022). The participants in this study consistently affirmed that despite their inability to work in the professions they were trained and had experience in, they retained the skills and expertise from Ukraine. Several times the participants reiterated that it was important to forget who they were in Ukraine and look toward future goals in the United States. Two of the participants in this study (Oksana and Lyonya) were adults in their 50s. They said that their experience from Ukraine helped them in resettlement even with little knowledge of English. They held their life skills and experience to a high standard; that’s what made them competitive in the job market. Youth, energy, and time to obtain education may help some (people), but for them “experience compensated for the language barrier” and even gave them an advantage. Refugee identity is fortified through connections to the past, through the present, and toward the future (Bilge, 2018). The interviews with the participants were filled with comparisons of their lives before the war and now. Those analogies were especially prominent when discussing employment. In the study with Meskhetian Turks, Bilge (2018) discusses the hope for the future as a part of refugee identity in the U.S., in which having the opportunity to create a future of employment and security that older generations didn’t have was significant. My participants’ future was directly connected to the U.S. and living here. All but one participant of this study stated that the future for them meant starting a new life in the U.S. Even if hope to return to Ukraine (or Europe) existed at the beginning of their resettlement, they quickly realized that holding on to the 104 past was beneficial for ethnic and cultural identity preservation. But a new identity meant looking toward the future in the U.S. During the interviews, they even briefly inquired about trade careers at Metro Community College as a possible next step for educational advancement when their English language skills are adequate. Immigrant and refugee policies aim to minimize immigrants’ cost to society (Potocky-Tripodi, 2008). It appeared that the participants of this study were intuitively yet acutely aware of that. Oksana and Lyonya repeatedly expressed judgment towards people who take advantage of benefits or overuse social services and stated they would rather work overtime to be financially independent and be able to afford (material) things. Olga, who had a temporary protective status (TPS) upon her arrival to the U.S., didn’t qualify for benefits. She firmly stated she didn’t need them and was capable of achievement without the government’s help. Jackson and Bauder (2013) suggest that employment is a necessary means to a financial end but it is also an enactment of citizenship, where refugees need to feel like they are contributing (‘giving back’) to the host community. Olga was grateful for the work permit through her TPS status but was determined to contribute to society through work and paying taxes. Similarly, Oksana and Lyonya shared that it was important for them to “buy things they were used to [buying]” and they knew “it didn’t fall from the sky.” Having been accustomed to a certain lifestyle in Ukraine, they realized it could only be matched by working and striving for more in the U.S. Another prominent commonality among my participants was a keen awareness that they were “different” from other refugees. They didn’t openly connect the opportunities and the welcoming into the Omaha community to their race, cultural, and 105 religious background, but this distinction should not be overlooked. Their fairly quick adaptation interspersed with educational and career aspirations may be attributed to the implicit privilege they experienced while resettling in Omaha. After all, despite the growth and increasingly more diverse composition of our community, the vast majority of people living here are white and belong to predominantly Christian religious denominations. This indeed makes Ukrainians “different” from other refugee groups resettling and rebuilding their lives in our community. Multiple factors shape refugee experiences before the exile and after. Employment, whether it’s low-skilled work at the beginning of the resettlement experience or aspirations for future careers tend to shape how refugees integrate into new societies. Refugee experience in general, according to Jackson & Bauder (2013), is described as being built on the previous experience while shaping the next. Furthermore, the participants in my research treated their experiences and accumulated knowledge as a doorway to better opportunities in employment and financial freedom. At the time of the interviews, only one participant (Olga Mashtakova) admitted she sought to work in the same field she had experience in from Ukraine. The other four participants were shaping their professional identities in the U.S. with the belief that reinvention of self was needed while using skills from Ukraine. However, they were not yet certain what that might look like. This suggests that (re)construction of the identity of a refugee is an ongoing process of discovery, and when inquired about early on, a definitive and clear vision might not be possible. 106 Identity and English Learning and Education Employment opportunities in refugee populations are closely connected to their proficiency in English. The participants in this study were keenly aware that without English, upward mobility was not possible. Dryden-Peterson & Horst (2023) report that education is directly connected to a secure future through mobility in many refugee groups. Their research found that educational aspirations and dreams in refugees are connected to mobility not in a geographical sense (refugees being able to move to a different place) but to civic rights and opportunities they didn’t have before. Additionally, education helps refugees overcome uncertainty and increase agency in the new environment (Dryden-Peterson & Horst, 2023). For refugees in this study, education was viewed as the agent of hope that will provide access to success in careers. However, they had a clear awareness of their responsibilities to provide income, not just to support themselves but also their family members who stayed in Ukraine. Olga Mashtakova and her sister who lived in Europe provided financial support to their father every month. Alyona and Olya did the same for their parents. At the time of the interviews, their parents owned properties in a village outside of Kyiv and hosted family and friends who needed a temporary place to stay (internally displaced people whose hometowns and villages were under bombardment). Oksana and Lyonya had a goal to help their adult children come to the U.S. as well. They completed their paperwork through the Uniting for Ukraine program. By the time this research was completed, their children, who were in their 20s, were able to join them in Omaha and enrolled in the ELL program. Preliminary, Oksana and Lyonya hoped that their children would become fluent in English soon and (re)start their careers in Information 107 Technology, something they had studied in Ukraine. Refugee groups hope that education will provide them with access to successful career paths of their choosing and combine these ambitions to earn an income, not just to support themselves but also their parents, siblings, and other dependents (Dreyden-Peterson & Horst, 2023). Language is an essential part of our individual and community lives and a critical tool for learning. Through language immigrants, including refugees, get access to opportunities; it is central to participation in social processes as well (Faiq & Cinkara, 2018). English proficiency has been described in the literature as the most formidable employment barrier (Jackson & Bauder, 2013). This speaks to an overarching sentiment the participants in this study shared that their poor language skills are the biggest detriment to their career success. Olga Mashtakova shared stories of her tremendous success professionally in Ukraine. Her ambitions didn’t cease after she became a refugee in the U.S. She was eager to find employment in a field she was an expert in, but insufficient English skills and lack of U.S.-based work experience presented as big obstacles on that path. Working is critical for refugee identity because it facilitates not only practicing English but also meeting and befriending [Canadians], developing a sense of belonging, and putting down roots to combat feelings of transient impermanence (Jackson & Bauder, 2013). Through English that leads to good employment, refugees (re)create their identity in the U.S. – opportunity creation is a part of identity creation. It is important to state here that equitable educational opportunities for refugees help with constructing refugee identity. As refugees begin to construct their dynamic identities and develop personal investments in language learning, ELL programs are called upon to meet the needs of 108 those learners. This means that ELL programs become a physical context for refugees to learn English and a broader support system for their resettlement (Perlman, 2020). Perlman (2020) further states that refugee identities have the ability to evolve within the new linguistic environment, and since refugees are heterogeneous, the programs and ELL educators should be aware of how they support refugee ELL learners. As refugees learn to overcome personal histories and challenges of resettlement, the ELL environment plays an important role in refugee-learner identity creation. Cun et al. (2019), additionally suggest that language acquisition doesn’t only mean the learning of the language. It is a social practice too, in which adult learners share life experiences with their peers, build knowledge of the new systems, create networks, and form friendships. Such language acquisition is commonly linked to the term “literacy” because it goes beyond skills acquisition in the classroom, it’s related to social practices, attitudes, values, and beliefs (Cun et al., 2019). All participants in this study admitted that learning English was essential for better employment opportunities and future goals, but it was also important for communicating outside of work, making friends, and navigating the bureaucracies of various U.S. systems. Echoing research literature, Olya warmly shared that her ELL instructor holds student gatherings outside of class in her home. She stated that an environment in which she could socialize in English with her teacher and other students was most beneficial. Identity and Religion As I stated repeatedly throughout my analysis of my participants’ stories, belonging to a community was of utmost importance to them. They all brought strong 109 religious convictions from Ukraine, naturally, they sought religious communities in Omaha they could become a part of. A sense of community preserves culture. For refugees who lost homes and other earthly possessions, who escaped their homelands due to oppression or persecution, and who have seen the deaths of their loved ones, preservation of culture is equal to survival. One of the ways how refugees preserve culture is native language. It also plays a role in establishing identity for refugees. Language is more than a means of communication, it defines an ethnic group by establishing the in-group and out-group boundaries (Bilge, 2018). That’s why Lyonya and Oskana expressed disdain about church members speaking Russian and not Ukrainian. For them, the service had to be in Ukrainian and parishioners had to communicate in Ukrainian to belong. They found their “true” community once they joined the Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church whose members are mostly immigrants from western Ukraine. That part of the country has been historically known for antipathy towards Russians and the Russian language. All participants in this study spoke Russian before the war, however, after the invasion and in exile, speaking Ukrainian meant the preservation of culture and ethnicity. I believe that the use of native Ukrainian secured relatedness for my participants and with that strengthened their identity. Bilge (2018) conducted a study on identity with Mekhetian Turks, in which it is suggested that the sense of community surfaces as a result of the threat to Mekhetian Turkish identity which included a real threat to their physical safety. The findings in this study suggest the same – Ukrainian refugees experienced threats caused by the Russian invasion of their country. The threat was physical but also psychological (to their 110 Ukrainian identity). That’s why the sense of community and desire to belong was ever-so prominent among my participants. Four out of five participants in my study actively attended church services. I argue that the need to go to church meant belonging to the community as well, it’s more than a religious practice. Granted, the main purpose of a church is to meet the spiritual and religious needs of its members. Ethnic churches, however, have the ability to maintain the identity of their ethnic congregation (Choi & Berho, 2015). In other words, through activities in the ethnic church, refugees can find comfort, connect to God through prayer, and practice cultural rituals without experiencing a threat to their heritage. By attending church services, my participants were able to bridge their tumultuous escape from the war-torn Ukraine and make sense of their presence in the U.S. Praying for people they left behind and the defenders in the frontline brought them a fraction of peace (they were deeply worried and troubled about Ukraine’s future, people who died, and the destruction of their homeland). Prayer is considered a way to release burdens and an opportunity to regain control; it is the practice that fosters daily resilience and cultural continuity among refugees (Mututhi, et al., 2020). Relative to spirituality, the participants’ relationship with God was truly remarkable to observe. When sharing their experiences in the past and present, and what they hoped and dreamed in the future, the solely linked God’ will. The mentioning of God was unintentional and casual; remarks about God were a part of the natural flow of the conversation. This leads me to suggest that such devotion and trust are not arbitrary. It helped the participants to make meaning of their experiences and cope with new realities. This observation is common among other refugee groups: “Passing their trauma 111 and difficulties to God through prayer, allows them to regain control over their lives” (Muruthi et al., 2020). Moreover, research suggests that refugees view God as a friend, an advisor, and someone who protects them. They believe that God knows them and will provide guidance (Raghallaigh, 2010). Putting trust in God was a big part of the lives of my participants which is consistent among refugee populations living in resettlement in the U.S. The refugee experience is innately complex and interconnections between social structural factors and communicative aspects of identity play an important role in the resettlement process (Bergquist et al., 2018). Additionally, refugee identities change, they are multi-dimensional and get renegotiated constantly (Bilge, 2018). The participants in this study were the true “newcomers” to this country. How and when their refugee identities change, would be a fascinating future opportunity to examine. 112 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH When I wrote the introduction to this study in the spring of 2023, the UN Refugee Agency reported over eight million Ukrainian refugees across Europe. Considering that some Ukrainians were able to return home and the overall people movement between Ukraine and the host countries, the Agency still disclosed that as of February 2024, there were 6,479,700 Ukrainian refugees across the globe (UNHCR, 2024). Almost a year to a day later, while writing the conclusion, I assert the significance of this study due to the number of refugees from Ukraine worldwide. As the war and destruction continue, the return home is not only unlikely, it is not desirable for many Ukrainians who are rebuilding their lives in the host countries. Since Ukrainians are becoming a distinct part of the makeup of our communities, it is important to study the phenomenon of a “Ukrainian refugee”. Ukrainians have been welcomed warmly across the host countries mainly due to similarities in religion, skin color, and culture. I argue that these attributes are not sufficient to integrate and support Ukrainian refugees properly. This study aimed to provide helpful insights for refugee sponsors, resettlement agencies, businesses, and educators on how to assist Ukrainians in the new environments. For English language providers specifically, this study may be beneficial in terms of creating tools for Ukrainian refugees (and potentially other refugee groups) inside and outside of ELL classrooms that help them resettle with minimal disruptions. Considering the turmoil of their experiences, the support should be provided in the most caring and compassionate way. Lastly, this study has been a personal and arduous quest to share stories of Ukrainian refugees with a broader audience. Their experiences were inconceivable to me 113 as a Ukrainian, and with this study, I attempted to explain the meaning of those experiences and how they influence the construction of refugee identity. Just like any qualitative study, heuristic inquiry is subjective. That means that it has the potential to be influenced by the researcher’s personal biases, attitudes, values, and experiences to a high degree (Sultan, 2019). Throughout this study, I have been deeply aware of my subjectivity. In fact, there were multiple times I had to pause working on the transcripts of the interviews due to the strong emotions I was experiencing. Although subjectivity is a definite limitation of this study, both Moustakas (1990) and Sultan (2019) suggest that researchers should not apologize for being subjective. Subjectivity is not a vice but a virtue, according to Sultan (2019), and through deep reflexivity, I made my best efforts to embrace it. The duration of the participants’ American experience was short at the time they shared it with me. They were able to paint a vivid and colorful picture of their lives before the war and their journey to the United States because those events were still fresh in their memory. However, the (re)discovery of the identity in the asylum can be described as “blurry,” and I attribute it to the fact that they have not lived in the U.S. long enough to form it well. A follow-up study with the same participants, in my opinion, would be beneficial to examine whether and how their perspectives changed. The questions of identity could not be informed substantially by the participants due to the novelty of their experience, and it is another limitation of this study. Additionally, I collected data between April and September 2023, about 1.5 years after the beginning of the war. To put it in the context of living experience, in that time, the participants escaped the warzone, applied and received asylee status, came to the United 114 States, resettled to the best of their ability, learned to navigate basic U.S. systems, found work, attended ELL program, and made plans for the future. Attempting to extract deep meaning from such packed and intense experiences in such a short time is a limitation as well. This study was conducted in a medium-sized community in the Midwest. The participants of the study were Ukrainian refugees who attended the ELL program in one educational organization. Examining the identity of Ukrainian refugees in rural areas in the U.S. where the numbers are even smaller, but also in larger metropolitan cities like Chicago or New York may produce different results and may suggest other directions for future research. Another way to study the construction of refugee identity is to invite more participants and conduct the research longitudinally, over several years. Once the tumultuousness of exile and the stress of the resettlement subside, the results of the study may be completely different. My biggest concern, which was also a limitation throughout this project, was the lack of scholarship on the topic of refugees from Ukraine. This was expected as I started working on it when the events in Ukraine were so volatile and actively unfolding, to quote one of the participants: “They [immigration officials] didn’t know what to do with us yet.” However, by the time I explicated my findings, I was able to locate new scholarly literature that emerged in the past year; I was able to revise and add to the Literature Review. Still, the scholarship I found mostly encompassed Ukrainian refugees in Europe, suggesting that the numbers of refugees from Ukraine in the U.S. are 1) relatively small; 2) not enough time has passed since the phenomenon of “Ukrainian refugee” emerged. 115 Having completed this study using heuristic methodology, I acknowledge that this approach is non-traditional and bold. In my doctoral coursework, the heuristic inquiry was mentioned briefly and mostly while categorizing various qualitative research methodologies. Despite the lack of conventionality, I believe heuristic inquiry was a well-suited choice for this project. Sultan (2019) states that the way people internalize and express their living experiences is fundamental to recognizing the expanse of human potential and discovering options for transformation and growth. For me as an educator, this research was eye-opening because we rarely ask our students what the learning experience is like for them, what it means, and what they want to achieve with it. The results of this study can be used for future language teaching practice. Specifically, English learning as an expression of identity can be used in developing various language and literacy programs while investing in ELL instructor skills and credentials. For me as an English learner, this research was reminiscent of my history of assimilation in the U.S. and acquiring language skills. In comparison to my own learning experience, I discovered similarities but also differences in the way Ukrainian refugees perceive language learning. A comparative study about English language acquisition among refugees and “voluntary” immigrants may be an interesting next project. Lastly, I spent countless sleepless nights at the beginning of the war thinking about my fellow Ukrainians and how I can contribute to the Ukrainian cause. My skills and abilities are quite limited in that regard. But I am grateful I discovered a niche in which I could shed light and add to the knowledge about Ukrainian refugees in our midst. The issue of refugees has become a global phenomenon, Ukrainian refugees are the newest demographic added to the long list of displaced people. This project may pave the way for other refugee-related research. 116 Generalization is not the goal in qualitative research; it was not the goal in this study either. Instead, I aspire to potentially transfer the findings of this study to other groups or contexts and situations. Generalizability suggests that there is only one reality or truth, but transferability doesn’t assume a single truth (Sultan, 2019). I assessed for similarities and hope to apply the findings in this study to other contexts without breaking the integrity of the living experiences of my participants. 117 CHAPTER 7: CREATIVE SYNTHESIS There is no prescribed way to illustrate the concluding phase of the heuristic inquiry – creative synthesis. Douglas & Moustakas (1985) suggest that it lies beyond the refinement of the themes and patterns, but is at the heart of what was discovered in the process of inquiry. It is the researcher’s personal understanding of what they’ve learned, and creative synthesis should represent the experience as a whole (Sultan, 2019). Moustakas (1990) encourages to involve a great range of freedom in the illumination of the synthesis. I chose to study refugees from Ukraine with the intention to discover a reality that was unknown to me. As this project comes to an end, I share the significance of this discovery in a letter. Letter to Motherland I waited a year to write to you or maybe twenty, and I may have abandoned the entire idea had I not felt guilt since the day you started to burn. Your soils soaked with the blood of your best people, your cities with centuries of culture and history in ruins, your industry and economy struggling to transform to entirely support the military so you can continue to defend your borders, the tears of the little ones too young to grasp the meaning of freedom – all of that made me feel useless and inept. But still, I was glued to the screen. But then, like the extraordinary motherland you are, you found a way to aid my inadequacy, my restlessness. You sent me people who needed a little more support than you could give them. That’s ok, you’ve been busy. Please don’t underestimate the impact of this gift - these people, their experiences have filled my life and work with meaning 118 I’ve never encountered in the past. Thinking about them and analyzing their stories led me to consider their strength and determination. Despite the agony of the things they lived through, these Ukrainians showed remarkable resolve and ability to start over. They were strikingly focused on finding good work. It not attainable at the moment, investment in education, improving skills, rediscovery of professional identity was the direction to take toward success. Having realized the limitlessness of possibilities in this country, they were sensible about the English language requirement. Each one of them found a path that works best to gain fluency in English to not only obtain proper employment but to become a deserving member of this society. Civic responsibility is not something newcomers learn right away, but these Ukrainians demonstrated subtle awareness of their duty to this country uncommonly quickly. I observed these emerging traits amidst their immersive reverence and devotion to religion. It almost seemed that they were resilient and tenacious because they were religious. But that may be a subject of another inquiry. My beloved Ukraine, you gave me refugees, and you gave me my study. Their bravery, their drive, the colors in their stories, their “I need more English,” but most of all their circumstances, gave me a dissertation. For that I bittersweetly thank you. I hope to write to you again sometime, my Ukraine, as I am certain this study was just the beginning. Sadly, humanity is at the stage of its existence where people lose their homelands unexpectedly and too often. What do you do if you lost your home or even worse – your country? What parents do you visit? 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