In this paper, I revise my experience of writing an autoethnographic (Ellis, 2004) dissertation in the field of family therapy as a Colombian mestiza. I discuss how I grappled with my writing, and, in the process, stumbled into matters of democratizing texts. I problematize male-dominant academic standards, telling of the tensions when maneuvering…

Describes the confusion and sense of dislocation felt by one Chinese woman who entered the United States to begin graduate studies in English. Narrates how this feeling of dislocation motivated the woman to undertake a search for her "self," a process that shaped her as an individual and as a teacher. (HB)