Biography
Born and raised in rural Chiang Rai, Thailand, Saly brings lived experience of Theravada Buddhist cultures into her work supporting students across religious, spiritual, and secular identities.
At the intersection of chaplaincy and scholarship, Saly is interested in how people make meaning through rituals, stories, and everyday practices, especially amid migration, political change, and uncertainty.
Before coming to Oberlin, Saly served as an interfaith chaplain associate at Carleton College and as a multifaith chaplain intern at MIT. Saly has also taught and facilitated learning in a range of settings, including courses and workshops on Buddhist meditation and Theravada cultures at MIT, and as a teaching fellow in Harvard’s classics department.
At Oberlin, Saly offers confidential pastoral care, supports students in moments of stress and transition, and helps foster multifaith community through conversation, reflection, and care-centered programming. She is especially attentive to students navigating identity questions, belonging, grief, family pressures, and the ethical demands of caring for others. Saly also enjoys building bridges between intellectual life and everyday well-being, helping students connect big questions to practical habits and everyday practices.
Outside of work, she loves cats, coffee, food cultures, knitting, and conversations based on genuine curiosity.
