Research Rookies Student Profiles
Name: Guadalupe Lopez
Cohort: Continuing Research Rookie
Major: Elementary Education
Hometown: Glendale Heights, Illinois
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Katherine Brosier
Project Title: Shaping one's life based on immigration status: The difficulties of being an undocumented student
Project Overview: On the basis of theoretical understanding and research, of the association of immigration status and acculturative stress, I will conduct a research that studies Latino undocumented suburban college student’s psychological well-being. It will mainly focus on understanding how Latino undocumented suburban college student’s life is shaped by their undocumented immigration status. In addition, I will investigate what challenges derive from their undocumented immigration status and if there is an interrelationship between their psychological well-being. Thus, I will conduct a qualitative research study, where I will conduct three half an hour interviews with four undocumented students. I will select the students from community gatekeepers that will aid me to find two female participants and two male participants that grew up in a suburban area. The students will be asked about their life challenges and how their undocumented immigration status plays a role in it, and if their mental health was affected as well. The findings of this study will help mental health professionals understand all the vulnerability this population encounters. In addition, we will see if Latino undocumented suburban college students build a self-fulfilling truth based on the way others perceive them, which leads them to have psychological outcomes, and furthermore decrease their desire to obtain future goals.