Dr Patrick Thomsen’s research was my favourite out of all senior researchers. Solely because it was inspired by unexpected life experience, and it reinforces the idea that every, single, little, thing in our lives can become a topic of research. And these researches are the ones that can genuinely arouse an echo in the readers.

In the mapping of Thomsen’s research process, he mentioned that every living experience we have had would play an important role in our future research. Everything that appears as objective fact carries genealogies of knowledge; for me, my transnational identity as a Chinese who has socialized into the Western knowledge systems serves a significant role in my research.

Thomsen mentioned the power of discourse and the fact that social discourses can conceal phenomenons that are happening. If society hasn’t figured out a way to articulate something, people won’t talk about it—for example, homosexual within most Asian culture. Growing up in China, I did not know one single person who is homosexual, so I thought, “maybe being gay is just a European thing”. After I left the country to attend college here in New Zealand, I met many amazing, bubbly Asian gay men. That is when I realized that it is because most Asian societies do not approve such sexuality, people are afraid to showcase their true identity. As a result, society denies its existence. And till this day, my parents still don’t believe in homosexuality and claim that “being gay is simply not real, they are just confused.” Finding the gap between reality and discourse can contribute to the research process. Before looking for the answer, it is crucial to clarify what previous explanation already exists and what doesn’t. And then, as researchers, we can fill in the gaps and reveal what has been concealed.