Pae Naw Say doesn’t have many stories to tell about Thailand. “I was only four years old when we left… I don’t know much about the camp because my family and I don’t talk much about it,” she says. She does recall the day she left Thailand. “I remember looking back at my passport photo when I came to the United States, I looked rough,” says Say. There are lingering reminders. “The smell of gasoline brings me back to the time when we were boarding the plane.”
Say is from a small group of people of Karen (pronounced Kah-Ren) descent who came to Minnesota from a refugee camp in Thailand, near the Myanmar border. The group first arrived in the U.S. in 2004. Now the largest concentrated population of the Karen people, nearly 20,000 strong, live in the Twin Cities.
Say was in kindergarten when she felt a warm welcome to Minnesota. Her teachers created ethnic nights, where students came to school wearing their traditional clothing. The students were able to show off their culture and all could celebrate the variety on display. Fast forward many years and Say, like many young people in the Karen community, are now successful college students.
Life at UMD
Say is a third-year student with a double major in Marketing and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. She is also involved in student activities such as the human resource leadership board of Hmong Living in Unity and Balance (HLUB, pronounced Ha-Lou.). This organization has made a huge impact on Say. She mentions that she had the most fun creating posters as well as setting up Halloween events each year.
HLUB has been a significant back bone to Say's marketing and leadership experience. "I worked with highly driven and intelligent Asian individuals and through that program, I found some lifelong friends and a community that has encouraged me to stay at UMD," says Say. "One of the main reasons why I'm still here is because of the friends I've made here."
Say is also becoming more involved with an organization called the EPIC Movement, a faith-based organization. She recently attended the EPIC conference in Irvine, California. Say says that the most impactful experience she had during the conference was getting the opportunity to watch Asian speakers talk about their lives, and being able to connect with them on a personal level. “Just seeing representation makes you feel more in tune and connected with a community who understands your upbringing,” says Say.
Food and Family
Say’s mom always cooks her favorite foods when Say visits home. Cooking at UMD brings feelings of warmth and memories. “My mom doesn’t say much verbally but I know she loves me from her actions,” says Say.
“There’s this dish that we have eaten [as long as I can] remember.” Say explains that the dish is a beef stew and it also contains vegetables, but it’s more like a curry. This dish is a connection to food and family that Say has carried with her to Duluth.
Her favorite dish to cook is another curry called pork katsu. This dish consists of crispy pork cutlets cut into long strips and served with thick Japanese curry sauce with a side of rice. The friends that she shares a house with also love this dish and her cooking. Say can also be found going on TikTok to find new recipes to try out.
Career Goals
There are dozens of job categories for a marketing major and all of them have the same goal, helping a firm thrive. At the business school, Say is learning about these job categories and she says that talking to her professors is extremely valuable. She has made connections and been able to network with others in the business world.
Say has one year left at UMD and after graduating, she plans to move back to her family in the Twin Cities and find a job in marketing. “My family as a whole inspires me,” says Say. “They never tell me what to do. I feel the need to be successful to give back to them.”
Say values the skills she has learned about financial stability throughout her years at UMD. They align with her family's goals, to create a stable future. She’s excited to graduate and venture into the business world. That goal promises two things, to make her and her family proud.
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Banner photo (above): Pae Naw Say.
About the Marketing B.B.A. program
About the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies B.A. program
This story was written by UMD students Eva Moua, who is majoring in communication and Paris Vang, who is majoring in marketing and minoring in professional writing. Eva and Paris work with Cheryl Reitan in University Marketing and Public Relations.