taking the oath

Well it's official, I am a U.S. citizen. 365 new citizens were taking part in the ceremony. It was impressive to see so many people taking the oath at the same time. We had been told that the entire process would take about 3 hours. The ceremony itself only lasted about 45 minutes, the rest was a lot of waiting.

So the ceremony.... It was like a court proceeding and was lead by a judge. The ceremony started with the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance. After that the director of the Boston immigration office asked the judge to grant all 365 petitions for citizenship. The judge did. He made a little speech about the right to vote and being part of a jury. He called it the 2 most important responsibilities of a citizen. After that we had a special speaker: Governor Patrick. His speech was very nice. He mostly talked about the ideals that bring all Americans together. The ceremony closed with singing God Bless America.

It was very multi-cultural and very patriotic at the same time. But something happen during the ceremony that I didn't expect. From the start I was considering becoming a citizen as just a formality - the last "step" in the commitment I made 7 1/2 years ago when I moved here. So I didn't think I would get emotional during the ceremony, but I did. When the judge granted all the petitions and a the ground exploded in cheers, I got chocked up a little. At the end, when everybody was singing God Bless America, I couldn't stop the tears.

So now when people ask me if I feel different, I have to say a little. The commitment I made 7 1/2 years ago is now complete.