Using autoethnography (Ellis, 2004), this study explores a female immigrant student's lived experiences in education in China, and in the United States. The theoretical framework of this study is critical autoethnography. In the study, I present my lived experiences in poems, narratives, and stories as the storied scholarship (Boylorn and Orbe, 2014). Through the study, I make sense of how a female non-traditional immigrant student navigated schooling in the complex social, cultural environment in the United States, and schooling experiences of my youth in China. I utilize the study to examine the deeper meaning of my story as an inquiry (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Richardson and St. Pierre, 2005). In doing so, to not only make sense of the complex lifelong experiences (Berger, 2004) of an immigrant student, but also to make connections with many other female immigrant students, and to bring new light to the understanding of their struggles, difficulties, and challenges. I use various literary styles and the metaphor of finding the voice in my writing to illustrate the process (Forber-Pratt, 2015; Luke, 2009). / Doctor of Philosophy

Lifestyle of immigrants and recognized refugees Migration can be defined as more or less terminated process moving of people among places which are determinated by state borders. It is the process when person or group of people leave their land to find better place for living. Each person has his or her own lifestyle and it is one of the basic factors that influences the quality of living. The lifestyle is formed during life when is a person in interaction with enviroment. The theory is further split into 6 main chapters that involve all issues of lifestyle of immigrants and recognized refugees. The history of migration to the Czech Republic is analyzed, asylum processing and the most important lifestyle of national minorities is mentioned. In the last chapter of theoretical part integration of immigrants and asylum seekers in the Czech Republic is mentioned. The practical part is devoted to the research and it was dedicated to lifestyle of immigrants and asylum seekers in the Czech Republic and in their domicile of origin. The aim of the thesis was to compare lifestyle of immigrants and asylum seekers in the Czech Republic and in their domicile of origin. The hypothetical assumption suggested that lifestyle of immigrants and asylum seekers is the same in the Czech Republic as in their domicile of origin. The regions of the research were South Bohemian region, Plzeň region and Ústí nad Labem region. To prove or invalidate the hypothesis a method of questionnaire was used. 100 people were accosted and they received questionnaire to fill in it during four months. I received 64 questionnaires back. After evaluation of the questionnaires I came to the result that people who had filled the questionnaire have the same lifestyle in the Czech Republic as in their domicile of origin. The hypothesis was proved. Public, students of social school and their educators will be introduced with the results. I would recommend to focuse individual social work because each person has different needs. Easygoing integration into Czech society coheres with reaction of Czech people as well. My work could be used as text book referring about national minorities living in the Czech Republic. At the end of the thesis there are some supportive documents related to my work. It is neccesary to know that the more we can help foreigners to integrate themselves and we adopt them as our fellow-citizens the faster they will feel at {\crqq}home{\crqq} in the Czech Republic.