Becoming a U.S. Citizen I remember when I got my U.S. citizenship. It was the summer of 2007 in Fort Worth, Texas. I have achieved some goals, but the U.S. citizenship has always been the most important. First, I came to the United States legally thanks to my dad. He had to work hard in order to have enough money to pay for the resident card for my five brothers and me. Knowing all the sacrifices my dad went through for us, I immediately set a goal of becoming a U.S. citizen. I wanted to show my dad how much it meant to me. At that time, I never realized how difficult it would be for me to achieve this goal. I had to go through a very hard process in order to get my U.S. citizenship. At twenty years old, I remember I had to work to collect money, nearly five hundred dollars, to pay for the application fee for the citizenship. It was not easy because I did not speak English; I did not understand anything. I got a job working in a factory that made military tanks, it was so dirty. I came home covered in oil and grease; it even got in my hair. Later, I decided to learn English. It was the only way I could pass the U.S. citizenship exam. Then, I found an English school, named “Yes I Can.” I spent two years in it. During this period, I learned how to read and speak English, but not fluently. I did not have enough time to study because I had to work at the same time. Being a full time student and full time worker made me tired; I was a little sleepy every day at work, and my eyes were red all the time, but all the passion and hunger for being a U.S. citizen kept me on my toes. I have learned English little by little at work, at school, and in public. I soon felt comfortable to take the course of the U.S. citizenship. Finally, at the age of twenty eight I started to study for the exam. I had been using sources from the internet, where I spent two hours every night studying. My eyes would get even more irritated because of the computer. Then, I had a better idea: I bought a CD which contained one hundred questions with answers about the history of the U.S. I was listening to it all the time while cleaning my house, and when I was driving. One month later, my boyfriend bought me an expensive book to study. In fact, I only read it about two days a week. Gladly came the grand day, the exam day, and with pride and pleasure, I went to my dad’s house, giving him the big news that I passed the exam. To summarize, there has always been a phrase on my mind that kept me strong and focused to achieve this goal. During the whole time I spent studying, this phrase was always with me. “Yes I can, I can do it.” I never realized the many benefits that I obtained by achieving this goal. If somebody asks me what my best achieved goal is, I easily would say, without a second of hesitation, “becoming a U.S. citizen.” This goal taught me lots of things and made me what I am now, a good worker and a bilingual person. In my opinion, I feel that achieving a goal is very important because it helps us to improve ourselves, to be a better person, and to give others a better example.