54 new citizens take the oath of citizenship.
LOWER POTTSGROVE >> The roll call was like a geography lesson as James Graham called out the names — Bangladesh, Belarus, Congo, Canada, Cuba, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Boznia Herzegovina, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, Malaysia, Nigeria, Nepal, Russia.
Graham is an immigration services officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and it was his job to present the applicants to the court.
Those 54 applicants came from 28 different countries to come to America.
And on Oct. 24, they came to Pottsgrove High School to become American citizens.
A total of 54 foreign nationals became U.S. citizens during a ceremony in front of the entire student body.
It was presided over by Cheryl L. Austin, a judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, who told the new citizens that as she is a descendant of slaves whose past was lost, and that they must make a new future for themselves in America.
“Just think about how this day will look to your grandchildren,” Austin said.
Julia Smirny, who was born in Russia but came to the U.S. “a very long time ago,” was pleased enough to think about how the day looked to her two youngest children, 12-year-old twins Ben and Elizabeth Panku, who were on hand to see their mother take the oath.
Smirny said she decided to become an American citizen because of her disagreement with the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and what she feels he is doing to her birthplace.
“It’s getting so I’m ashamed to speak Russian,” she said.
It is those kind of decisions that mark the naturalized citizen, said Carolyn R. Mirable, president of the Montgomery County Bar Association, who told the new citizens they are special because “you are U.S. citizens by choice, not by birth.”
And they can now enjoy what English writer Val Saintsbury said about this country, said attorney Jonathan Grode: “My favorite thing about the United States? Lots of Americans, one America.”
“This is one of the most inspirational thing I have ever participated in,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, who noted that her parents were the first in her family to be born in America.
“You can do anything in this great country,” she told them.
“America is a country born of immigrants and, what a surprise, I am one of them,” Pottsgrove senior Maya Stehle told the new citizens.
Born in China and adopted at 11 months, Stehle is one of two student representatives to the Pottsgrove School Board.
“And here I am, standing in front of you, trying to express in words, how much this country means to me, and how much it will mean to you,” she said.
Pottsgrove High School Principal Bill Ziegler told the students that they were about to witness something amazing.
“This is perhaps the biggest day of their lives, this is like graduation,” said Ziegler.
And like graduation, the ceremony was capped by a harmonious rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” by the high school chorus, and then a clamor of participants getting their photos taken with their new hardwon document.