Transition Fund for PhD

Who am I?

Hello friends and donors!

My name is Tiffany Nhan, and I am an incoming student to University at Buffalo’s joint MSW/PhD program. For those who may not know me, I am the eldest daughter of Vietnamese refugees and I am the first in my family to attend and graduate college. I have spent the majority of my undergraduate career working with children in DMH (Department of Mental Health)/DCF (Department of Children and Families), and researching issues related to refugees’ mental health and their collective coping following experiences of trauma. As a PhD student, I am excited to research refugee and immigrant trauma, empowerment, and collective coping mechanisms. My experiences growing up in a lower-income refugee household and in a refugee/immigrant resettlement site has made me passionate about advancing care and interventions for refugees, immigrants, and marginalized people.

What is this fund for?

I am starting my joint MSW/PhD program in Fall 2024 and moving out of state away from my home state of the last 24 years. I am very excited to be moving to Buffalo, NY to begin the joint MSW/PhD program in the University at Buffalo’s social work department, and to engage in research and clinical work that I am passionate about!

Unfortunately, I have limited means to move and as a first-generation, low-income student from a refugee family I do not have many resources to rely on. As the oldest graduate, I have assisted my immediate family with finances amidst health problems over the last few years.

I am starting a fund to help fund my initial moving costs to help with my transition to Buffalo, New York. Things that this fund will help with are:

> Moving truck and tow for my car

> Initial cost of 1st and security for an apartment

> 1st month cost of living until my school funds kick in

Note: Anything extra will be reserved for an emergency fund.

Why?

Growing up in a refugee family has informed my research interests and career path. As a child, I heard stories of my family’s trauma and experienced the difficulties associated with a migrant family’s adjustment to a new country. As a first-generation U.S citizen and low-income student, I have faced many barriers to higher education. Despite these challenges, I have persevered and I am thankful for the community I have.

As I move forward in my pursuit of higher education, I honor my roots and my family’s legacy by dedicating my life’s work to community based clinical and research work that will inform interventions for refugees, immigrants, and future generations after them!

This fund symbolizes, to me, the power and love of a community. I am so thankful for the love and guidance I have received to get to this point. I am humbly asking for your donation so that I may continue my pursuit of higher education which will allow me to continue pouring into the communities that I come from.

As I take this life-changing step forward, I strive to live by Toni Morrison’s words of “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”

When do I need the funds?

I am currently planning to move to Buffalo this upcoming August 1st. As such, I need funds available for the move as soon as possible.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me through Facebook or email.

If you would like to follow along my academic journey, here is a link to my LinkedIn.

Thank you for any and all help!