My Journey to Becoming a United States Citizen � � � � � � � � � � �

by Lizeth Mendoza

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience becoming a United States citizen. It is my hope that I will encourage someone else who is thinking about becoming a citizen to never give up, finish the process, and become a success story.

My name is Claudia Lizeth Romero Mendoza. My native homeland is Mexico, and my primary language is Spanish. I have been in the United States approximately seven years. In Mexico, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and was a manager with a small crew for The Environmental Health and Safety Department of Mining Areas.

When I first arrived in the states, I traveled from Maryland to the New Jersey area with my husband for his job. During the fall of 2016, my husband and I settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is a beautiful university town. During that time, I received my conditional permanent residency and work permit. I started working with a contractor at The University of Michigan in one of their dining rooms. I prepared, cooked, and served food. I was so happy to have a job, but very tired after long hours, and wanted to find something in my field.

I applied to work directly for the university. After months of taking tests, I was approved for a new university position. Unfortunately, my husband said it was time to move again with his job. I was disappointed because I wanted to stay employed in my new position. We went to Richmond, Virginia. For about a month we stayed in a hotel before we found a place to live. Knowing my English language skills were not strong, it was very difficult to find a job, but I never stopped looking. I took additional classes at John Tyler Community College and received certifications with OSHA as a manufacturing technician. At the end of the day, I believed nobody wanted to hire a foreigner with English language barriers.

In October of 2020, I went to the library and decided to attend an ESL class at RPS Adult Education, where I met my Instructor, Ms. Janice Riley. She helped me to increase my confidence and improve my second language English skills with speaking, reading, writing, and listening in her class.

I remained in the ESL program for over one year and took several classes with Ms. Riley to develop more English skills. A new Customer Service class was starting at RPS Adult Education where I could add another certification on my resume to gain employment. I worked with Ms. Riley, passed the test in April of 2021, and received the additional certification.

Yet, I always wanted to remain in my profession. During the summer of 2021, Ms. Riley was preparing to teach a new Civics Citizenship Prep class. I decided I no longer wanted to have a conditional residency, but to become a permanent United States citizen. I wanted to take this class as much as I wanted to become gainfully employed.

Becoming a citizen will allow my voice to be heard through the privilege of voting. Foreigners are not allowed to vote unless they are a registered citizen. There are steps, conditions, and specific types of permanent residency applications that foreigners must fill out correctly before taking their test. It is very important to fill out the correct category (such as single, married, divorced) and provide the appropriate verification document that applies to your personal sit-

uation. The application could be rejected and have a longer waiting period if it is not properly submitted. For anyone that wants to apply, my suggestion is to review the website www.uscis. gov to see what type of requirements are necessary.

During my application process, there were so many difficulties going on in the United States. It was the start of the pandemic, caravans of refugees crossing at the border, and a shortage of administrative help to process citizenship applications. I could not become overwhelmed with complications. I absolutely had to remain focused on learning the deep historical foundations of the United States in order to pass the test.

I was ready to take the test after my ten weeks of intense classroom studying. However, my confirmed interview appointment in late August of 2021 was canceled with no plans of being rescheduled. I remained hopeful. I continued studying my language skills, citizenship interview questions, and building my self-esteem.

I received my new citizenship interview confirmation for the second week of January 2022, passed my interview test, and became a United States citizen. I continued going on job interviews, but I knew there were conflicts because of my language barriers. I went on an interview for a laboratory technician position at Coca-Cola and was hired.

January of 2022 has been a great start for me. Nobody could ever tell me that this journey was easy, but I can tell anyone that I never gave up. I am very happy becoming a United States citizen, starting a new position in my field, and improving my English language skills with RPS Adult Education classes.

Author’s Note: My ESL Instructor, Janice I. Riley, M.Ed., from RPS Adult Education, assisted me with my SPOTLIGHT submission.

SPOTLIGHT would not be possible without the efforts of our editorial team, including current team members:

Autumn E� Bedwell is a GED® instructor/student recruiter with Southside Programs for Adult Continuing Education (SPACE) Region 19 and librarian with Chesterfield County Public Library. She is a former adult education coordinator; family literacy specialist; high school, middle school, and alternative education teacher of English and core subject areas; and instructor for family literacy, correctional center, army education center, and historical park programs. Autumn writes, “I cannot think of a better way to celebrate my 30 years as an adult educator than serving on the editorial team of SPOTLIGHT, a publication that honors the written and artistic creations of Virginia’s adult education students!”

Lindsay Brooks, Program Coordinator for Rockbridge Regional Adult Education in Lexington, Virginia. Lindsay has taught in the adult education field for more than years, working with the ISAEP program at Rockbridge County High School and coordinating the adult education program for Buena Vista, Lexington, Bath, and Highland counties.

Casey Guditus is the program specialist at Peninsula READS, a community-based literacy organization (CBLO) on the Virginia Peninsula. Casey also instructs English Language Learners at Tidewater Community College and volunteers with the prison education program Humanities Behind Bars.

Ninon Hentz is a part-time ESOL instructor at Blue Ridge Literacy in Roanoke, Virginia. She retired in 2018 after 35 years of teaching middle and high school English in Illinois and North Carolina but wanted to continue teaching in a less stressful and more community-based setting.

Pierrette Lacoste has been an ESOL tutor volunteer with Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/ Albemarle (LVCA) for the past five years. She has worked in the education field with people of all ages, from toddlers to elders, and languages continue to amaze her after more than 25 years in education.

Jeanne Nicholson Siler is a freelance writer, editor and photographer as well as a Literary Volunteers Charlottesville/Albemarle (LVCA) board member and tutor. She enjoys words more than numbers, and speaks English, Dutch, and a smattering of German.

Debbie Tuler is ESL instructor/specialist with Thomas Jefferson Adult and Continuing Education at Piedmont Virginia Community College (TJACE@PVCC) in Charlottesville. She has been working in the field of adult ESL since 1988, in Charlottesville since 1998.