Blog: Becoming a Citizen

Citizenship is at the apex of an individual’s journey and central to the concept of being an "American." We are a people who aspire to a political ideal; we create a nation that forms its essential identity by being 'One created from many.' Neither parental identity nor national DNA makes us American.

What is it that changes us and molds our diverse population into this imperfect union we call the United States of America? We are gathered from every place so it is not our birthright or bloodline. We come speaking virtually every language on Earth and while we blend by sharing a common language, we do not have English as our identity. We are driven away from homelands by war and famine, by oppression and poverty, by fear and intolerance, so we have not left for the same reason. We come because our minds seek education, our hearts follow family and love, our skills are needed and rewarded, our souls want greater security, so again we are not a country because of our reasons for coming.

In becoming CITIZENS, we are entering what Judge Mark Wolf calls, “the highest office.” In this concept is a basis of understanding what is happening when we become Americans. We leave other governments and the powerless or insignificant roles we have played, to play an important new role. We leave the old land to become part of the new – as individuals endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and here we claim this full inheritance. We may use shorthand to name this new identity and call it Freedom, or say it is Democracy, or sum it up as Liberty or Opportunity, or yet want it known as a Nation of Laws. It is this essential integrity, this political vision, this lovely idealism that waits for us when we claim our new status as American Citizens.

We become Americans outwardly by saying the words of the oath. We become Americans inwardly when we value being one of the people who govern themselves by laws and create institutions that protect the essential American identity of freedom and responsibility. It would be enough reason for many to become a citizen just to vote and thus set direction for this great land. For others, those who have fled atrocities around the globe, citizenship affirms an identity that grows from our Bill of Rights and protects them regardless of their family, their wealth or beliefs. There is hardly one of us who does not see the warts and blemishes of this country, but we embrace it for what it seeks to be and what it gives us.

Many years have passed since the Pilgrims climbed out of the Mayflower and formed a compact for their common good but each person taking the naturalization exam is stepping on the same rock. We who naturalize are each pilgrims finding a new rock on which to stand and from which to launch a new life.

The test is new, the journey is ancient. What I think is most wonderful is that by this step, you and the nation advance and the American dream has one more reason to succeed.