Dual Citizen

Living in the United States wasn’t always my family’s goal. My family and I first immigrated to the United States when I was 6 years old so that my father could study his Ph.D. at the University of Mississippi in the small, southern town of Oxford, Mississippi, but the goal was to return to live in Mexico after that. My father went to school full time (and studied all the time), while my mother taught Spanish at the University to support us. I now know how hard my parents worked during that time.

I didn’t speak much English. I had gone to a bilingual school in Mexico, but a language isn’t really learned until you immerse yourself in the culture. I remember during my first day of school at Bramlett Elementary, I was embarrassed when I didn’t know the meaning of “backpack” and after many failed attempts at understanding, the teacher placed my books in a plastic bag at the end of the school day. My parents had a hard time with the language too. If you’ve ever been to the South, you’ll know that the southern accent is a unique thing.  Needless to say, our time there was difficult at the beginning. For all of us. But eventually, we got used to it, and we realized that the people there were the loveliest. Southern hospitality is a real thing y’all! My sister and I had the grandest times playing out in the trees by our house and going to the park with our parents. Our grandparents visited often and were a great support. My sister and I made friends, and we ran and played up and down the street with them after school. Even school was fun. It was a jolly time.

After my father finished his Ph.D., we went back to Mexico, but my sister and I found that school wasn’t the same anymore. We missed Oxford, and I think my parents did too. We were back in Mexico for only a year and a half before my father found another job in the United States, as a University professor. So it was that we ended up in El Paso. We had never lived in the desert, and when we arrived in El Paso, we were shocked at the dryness and the lack of trees. Over the years, however, we’ve learned to love El Paso, with its cactus-filled mountains and its colorful, dancing sunsets.

We became permanent residents here, and two years ago, we applied for US citizenship. We hadn’t planned it. The opportunity presented itself and we took it. The process took quite a long time, but finally, 2 years later, all four of us, my sister, my parents and I, became citizens of the United States. The naturalization ceremony that I went to must have had about 300 people, and we were there for all of the morning and into the afternoon. The people there were from different countries all over the world. At the ceremony, the judge speaking said something that stayed with me. He told all of us to never be ashamed of our accent, for we were now American citizens just like those who had been born here, with our accents and all.   I couldn’t have agreed more. Through my years in the US, my family and I have had countless opportunities, and we have had many joys. We have also had hardships, but who hasn’t? We may not have planned it this way, but God did, and we sure are blessed. I know I will always be Mexican first, and Mexico will always have a special place in my heart, but now, I am American too.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11