The Xlibris Blog gives you the final part of author Simin Redjali’s Blog. Here, she talks about celebrating freedom following her US citizenship approval.
US citizenship
Fortunately, my faith in the values of a good education paid off in the summer of 1979 when the United States government granted me permanent residence as a person of exceptional ability and international renown. I accepted my first job offer as Center Director at Lynchburg Training School and Hospital (now known as Central Virginia Training Center). After one year my whole family became permanent residents of the United States. As Center Director, I had the good fortune to work with a dedicated staff of approximately 220 people who cared for 267 developmentally disabled persons and was responsible for the implementation of appropriate policy and procedures of the Center in addition to organizing and managing the financial, physical and human resources of the staff in realization of center’s goals and objectives.
During those years, I had to make the difficult decision of whether to become a citizen of the United States. In order to become a citizen, I had not only to believe and accept the American way of life, but I also had to renounce my Iranian citizenship. The first part of my decision was simple, because accepting the United States as a new home had already taken place in 1979. However, the test of being a U. S. citizen was not in loving this new country, but in renouncing the one that had been a part of my life for so long. Becoming a citizen does not just mean a new home. To me it means accepting the founding principles of this country that are so similar to the principles I fought for in Iran for many years. It means living in a country where my son, Reza, can realize his dreams and my daughter, Gita, hers of being a lawyer. When I asked, Gita, how she would summarize why she wanted to become a U. S. citizen, she spoke from my family’s heart when she said “good citizenship does not mean a passive acceptance of laws and rights our founding fathers gave us two centuries ago, but rather demands an active acceptance of these endearing values by taking the responsibility to uphold the principles as stated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States.”
We thank you, Xlibris author Simin Redjali, for gracing the Xlibris Blog with your inspiring advocacy and literary journey! May you be a shining example to women not just in your homeland, but all over the world.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of Simin’s Xlibris Blog.
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