“My Name Serves as My Whole Story”: Reflective Meaning-Making with Young Adults with Refugee Backgrounds

This article examines how young adults with refugee backgrounds reflect on their names through storytelling. Specifically, it explores the lessons and insights the young adults gain from reflecting on their name stories. The study involved six young adults with refugee backgrounds who participated in a storytelling workshop and subsequent interviews. Using a reflective narrative meaning-making framework, the analysis focused on the participants’ reflections and insights. The findings indicate that storytelling provides a powerful space for these young adults to assert their cultural identities, resist assimilation pressures, and build community. The findings call for the need to center stories of youth whose stories are not often heard and particularly youth with refugee backgrounds whose dominant narratives are usually told by others.