The MATC Education Center at Walker’s Square was packed with family and friends as 21 MATC students completed their journey to United States citizenship. Gov. Tony Evers was among the dignitaries in attendance, presenting certificates to each of the new citizens.
Student speaker Anallely Guadarrama’s journey to citizenship started 12 years ago when she immigrated here from Mexico. During her emotional speech, she took the time to thank her Citizenship and ESL instructors Diane Steigerwald and Veronica Torres. Later during an interview with a local TV news station, Guadarrama also took the time to thank an unlikely person. Someone who closed a door on her years ago. “When I say one door is closed, other doors open for you, it’s because of one experience maybe three years ago. Somebody closed one door for me. And now I want to say thank you for (closing) that door for me because so many doors open(ed), better, better for me,” Guadarrama said. She also says she completed the citizenship process to show her kids that “If you take one step, you can take many steps.”
After the November ceremony, the new citizens were able to register to vote, and they received information on scholarship opportunities at MATC. Congratulations to all the new U.S. citizens. Hopefully, this is one of the first steps to many open doors. Here is the list of MATC students who completed their journey to U.S. citizenship:
- Gerineldo Acevedo
- Brenda Campos Álvarez
- Fátima Blandón
- María Alejandra Chávez López
- Danny de la Cruz
- Sandra Cuevas
- Andrea M. Genao de Acevedo
- Annallely Guadarrama
- Juana Cecilia Hernández
- Fidel Herrera
- María G. Jiménez Zamora
- Momyaz Khebaisa
- María Mejía
- Wilma Morante
- Salah Eddin Mohd Ahmad Mousa
- Samuel Rodríguez
- Yalsi Rodríguez Reyes
- Rosa Salcedo
- Rocio I. Sánchez-Ortiz
- Anna Sepulveda
- Victoria Vásquez de Placensia