A Muslim Woman’s Experience with Integrating into Canadian Culture while completing her Graduate Nutrition Degree.

Abstract

Although there are many studies focusing on Muslim women experiences, first-hand Muslim woman experience regarding socializing and integrating into a culture is lacking. This paper presents an autoethnographic account of my experience as an international Muslim woman studying as a part of masters level nutrition program in Canada. A personal journal was my source of data; I used emotional recall to enrich my data and finally conducted a thematic analysis. Three metaphors were used as vehicles to convey major themes. The conclusion proposed that through reflexivity, individuals can determine their weaknesses, strengths, attitudes, and personal tendencies and use this discovery to successfully navigate and integrate more confidently into an unfamiliar culture.