Yesterday, the kids and I were honored to attend a naturalization ceremony (sometimes called a citizenship ceremony). One of SweetP's co-op teachers from last semester, Miss Elena was born in Russia and after a nearly 15 year ordeal, she was sworn in as an American citizen.
The morning started out rough. I overslept the alarm and woke up ten minutes before we were supposed to leave but thankfully I had pulled clothes and shoes the night before and already had a diaper bag in my truck. We got ready (with teeth brushed and everything!) faster than I thought possible and because we live in the middle of nowhere and everything is an hour drive, we drove a little faster and made it to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office about twenty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. We needed those twenty minutes just to get through security. We found our seats and waited...because like everything else government related, hurry up and wait is the motto. Some took the wait better than others.
But then it began. I've never seen a more respectful group of people sing the National Anthem or show more honest patriotism. One man from Pakistan was beaming with joy. He looked like a kid at Disney seeing his wildest dreams come true. His son - around four years old, later lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
In all, there were 44 people from 17 nations sworn in as Americans. They all said the oath together and then were individually given their citizenship certificates.
Before this week I didn't know that naturalization ceremonies were open to the general public. If you ever get the chance to go, I can't recommend it highly enough. We happen to be studying American history this year and it was a nice bonus but it would have been worth it regardless. If we didn't homeschool, my six year old daughter and nine year old son would not have been able to go.
This is why we homeschool.
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
*Additional resources if you're studying immigration:
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