NEW CITIZENS

STRATEGIC GOAL AREA ADVANCE

Last year, over 756,000 people went through the process to become U.S. citizens. Learn from two Alpha Sigma Alpha sisters about their experience in becoming citizens of the United States of America.

Barbara Wanderley emigrated to the US in 2013 from Brazil. She is a founding member of the Iota Theta Chapter at Columbia College. She recently graduated with a degree in Chemistry. Her biggest passions are music and science and one day she hopes to use both of her passions to take on the world.

I recently got American citizenship and many people do not know the process of becoming an American. Citizenship can mean different things. To some people, it might be being born in a country and being part of that community. To people like me, it is much more. I am a naturalized American, which means that I obtained American citizenship by status instead of birth. To millions of immigrants, obtaining American citizenship is a dream from the moment they decide to leave their home country to chase a better life in the United States. For me, it was not much different.

My American dream started when I was only seven years old. My mom decided to try living in a different country. At first, she just wanted to work a bit and save some money, but she met my stepdad and the rest is history. But of course, she wanted her family to be complete and wanted me to come to the United States too. For years and years, my mom tried to bring me to the United States and was always denied by immigration. Then, finally, after seven years of applying for residency and being denied, I was granted a resident card (also known as a green card). So, I left my home country at fifteen and my whole life behind to start from zero in America. When I arrived on American soil all I wanted to do was cry; for years that was my dream and I was finally here. Even though I did not speak English at the time, I still remember the officer handing back my passport and saying, “Have a great life.”

It was not that great at first. What a lot of Americans do not know about being an immigrant is that living in the United States is a learning process. I grew up doing things differently. I had to go from knowing everyone at my school to knowing absolutely nobody and speaking horrible English. On my first day of high school, I cried almost all day because I was so lost. As I learned English and started making a few friends things started to get a little better, but I always felt like I didn’t belong and that I was never going to fit in. I went through three years of high school in the United States feeling like I did not belong in this country. My journey was to learn to accept that I would never be like the American kids and that I would always be a foreign kid. Even though I speak English, I will most likely always have an accent and everybody will judge me because of it. It happens all the time. Changing my perspective and trying to take advantage of the opportunities being presented to me was what made life better.

“Citizenship can mean different things. To some people, it might be being born in a country and being part of that community. To people like me, it is much more.”

In college, everything changed. I decided that I was going to get out of my comfort zone and try different things. I got involved in student government, choir, science clubs, leadership clubs and finally, Alpha Sigma Alpha. All these different experiences shaped the person I am today and how I view myself as a new American. Obtaining citizenship is just a small part of truly feeling like an American and I am still learning what it means to me.

Victoria Schroeder was born in Cordoba, Argentina. She came to the United States with her parents when she was fourteen years old. From a young age, Victoria has always wanted to help... in any capacity.

She is passionate about helping animals, people, and the environment.

Victoria went to Colorado State University in Pueblo, CO and acquired a degree in Biology and Chemistry with an emphasis in Wildlife Preservation as well as a minor in Leadership Studies. Later on, she received a master’s degree in Environmental Law to learn how to protect the rights of animals.

Currently, Victoria is the Executive Director at the Longhopes Donkey Shelter, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Every day she works to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals. In her free time, she volunteers for the local Parks and Recreation Center as an Assistant Coach for the town's youth swim team. She has been a United States citizen for eight years.

I arrived in the United States in 2004 with both of my parents and my brother. My dad received a promotion that required him to move to the United States, so we came with him. Leaving my home and extended family behind was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do. For a couple of years, I asked my parents if we could go back but that wasn’t an option. I missed home, my family and my culture.

It was pretty difficult to adapt to a new culture and learn a new language. I didn’t speak any English and it took me a while to realize that kissing on the cheek when you first meet someone isn’t a common thing around here. I felt out of place a lot but it became easier once I started to meet people and make friends. Unfortunately, I was bullied a lot throughout school because of the way I looked, my accent and not knowing enough English.

Thinking back now, I am not sure how I survived such cruel actions towards me for things I had no control over. I tried my hardest to learn a new language and to get rid of my accent. Although I learned the language, my accent remained, so the bullying never really stopped. Even when I was older I had teachers, professors, supervisors and co-workers make fun of the way I pronounced things and several of them told me to go back to my country. It was difficult to keep moving forward when I felt no one wanted me to.

I never cared much about politics until I was an immigrant in a strange country on the path to citizenship. I followed local and national elections but always felt so powerless without a voice. That’s right... I couldn’t vote. Not yet anyway. I still felt that as a resident of this country I had a responsibility to educate myself and those around me on the importance of voting and being involved. If you want things to change, you must speak up and you can only do that if you vote.

“My life changed completely when I became a citizen and I just wish we could provide the same chance to others. I want our country to provide better opportunities and a clear path to citizenship to those seeking it, and that’s the main reason why I care, why I get involved, and why I vote.”

I volunteered my time canvassing for elections, educating the public on the importance of voting, teaching English as a Second Language and citizenship classes at the local library as well as holding educational meetings with the immigrant community and the local sheriff’s office. Not being able to vote for so many years was so difficult, but it taught me the importance of doing so once I became a citizen. When I finally reached citizenship I thought things would be different and better. I was finally a citizen! Although most of those who knew me were proud of me and my hard work; I still met others who told me I wasn’t a real citizen, I was naturalized — and that hurt even more. I slowly realized that even with limited opportunities to reach citizenship, those of us who do are still not viewed as citizens and I couldn’t help but think what other immigrants go through when they don’t even have a path to citizenship.

Because my dad was asked to move here by his company, our path to citizenship was pretty easy. It was lengthy, but easy. As an adult, I worked for several immigrant law offices to help others reach citizenship. I learned how difficult, and most times how impossible, it is to reach citizenship when there aren’t any ways to do so. It is now impossible for any person escaping prosecution, trafficking, and abuse, to reach citizenship or any legal status in our country. It breaks my heart that families are waiting in terrible conditions for an answer just to be deported to the place they were escaping from.

To me, citizenship means providing a safe haven to those searching for peace and a new beginning. It means providing an opportunity for those that were never given one. It means having the same rights as everyone else and be viewed as a citizen not a “naturalized” one. In my opinion, our country should have more feasible ways to become a citizen and I hope that we can move in that direction. My life changed completely when I became a citizen and I just wish we could provide the same chance to others. I want our country to provide better opportunities and a clear path to citizenship to those seeking it, and that’s the main reason why I care, why I get involved, and why I vote.