‘You’re talking to a new American citizen’
“I am an American citizen. Thank you.”
Consider the power of those seven words. They hint at a much deeper narrative.
Trim off the final phrase of gratitude and it’s merely a statement. The “thank you” informs us the writer was not born in the United States, and expresses appreciation not just for becoming an American citizen, but to those who helped make that happen.
It’s a real note, typical of the ones Barbara Kestenbaum and James Knight receive after their students at the Building One Community (B1C) citizenship class pass the test to become Americans.
Barbara and James are volunteers, paid only in a bounty of calls, texts and WhatsApp messages revealing the outcome of citizenship tests.
Some notes are even briefer. “Passed” delivers the news Barbara and James wait anxiously to hear. Then the sender adds a second line:
“Thanks to you.”
Some need no words at all. Five U.S. flags, a thumbs up and three sets of hands in prayer make the point efficiently. But there is a poignancy to every one of them.
“James ... you’re talking to a new American citizen. It went really well.”
“Thanks Miss Barbara one hundred times.”
“Sin su ayuda no hubiera logrado.”
“Dear teacher ... thank you so much.”
Good teachers deflect attention from themselves. James and Barbara are good teachers. On this Fourth of July, I wanted to learn more about the people who help immigrants pass the citizenship test. They consistently steered the conversation back to their students.
“I want to give credit to the students themselves,” James says as we wrap up our conversation. “The work they put into it and the studying they do, and showing up even if they were working late in the day. I want to give them credit.”
I interview them separately, yet Barbara hits similar notes without a prompt: “The exciting part is (the students’) enthusiasm and how hard they work and how committed they are.”
James and Barbara, both Stamford residents, took different paths to B1C, which is based in the city. Barbara was on the lookout for volunteer opportunities when Sarita Hanley took her by the hand after an exercise class about eight years ago and brought her to meet Catalina Horak, then the executive director of Neighbors Link Stamford, which was later rebranded as Building One Community. James knows himself well enough to recognize a need to keep busy after his day job as a paralegal. In addition to the citizenship class, he also teaches English at B1C, where he has volunteered for about eight years.
They compliment one another for the way they complement one another as a teaching team. Barbara is retired, but launched her diverse resume as a teacher before pivoting to yoga instructor and office manager for a literary agency.
James speaks Spanish, which comes in handy but is not necessary to volunteer. The students can come from anywhere. They mention students who hail from Turkey, Russia and India, though the majority are from Spanish-speaking countries.
The classes are typically two hours long and last 12 weeks, though it is essentially a carousel students can jump on at any time. Some need to complete the circle more than once. The important thing is that they feel confident when taking the test.
The test is divided into two parts. The first is a civics quiz which requires them to correctly answer six of 10 questions from a pool of 100. Sure, some are easy, but I lack confidence that Americans who don’t have to take a test would pass it. Clearly, only a handful of people know that Americans can participate in a democracy by writing to a newspaper. I’m not even sure more than half the people in Connecticut could identify an American Indian Tribe despite the state hosting a glitzy casino named for one.
The second part of the test, though, is deceptively challenging. The questions are personal, so the students should know the answers better than anyone (and the test administrators already have them). But it’s the rare exam that doesn’t care about the answers. It’s really testing English skills. So unfamiliar synonyms and idioms can make the difference. A reference to “bear arms” meant only the arms of a bear to one applicant.
James and Barbara can’t sit in on the interviews, but debrief their students afterward to educate themselves. One student, for example, could not provide her maiden name. In her native culture, that phrase doesn’t mean anything.
Barbara learned early on about something else that doesn’t always translate: her native New York sense of humor. When we meet via Zoom, I chuckle that she’s wearing a name tag. “I want to be sure you spell my name right,” she says wryly.
The ultimate tribute to them, of course, is that B1C students rarely fail the test. After two or three have become citizens, B1C hosts a celebration where the interview is discussed and the new citizens stand in front of the U.S. flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance (Barbara has occasionally played Kate Smith’s rendition of “God Bless America” on her cellphone, she reveals sheepishly).
The classes moved last weekend to Building One’s new flagship location at 417 Shippan Ave. in Stamford (the 75 Selleck St. site will continue to be used on a smaller scale). Amid this significant change, one constant remains likely. Students never leave without saying “thank you.”
Barbara replies in kind: “Thank you. You make my life better. You add importance to my life.”
It’s a pretty good incentive to volunteer. In just a few words (or emojis), students can not only make you feel better about yourself, but better about America.