The blessings of liberty have inspired generations to achieve U.S. citizenship. Still,
the road to becoming a U.S. citizen is neither short nor easy to navigate. As rising
lawyer-leaders, we have committed to using the gifts of our education and resources
to help prepare hard-working strivers and dreamers to realize their hopes for a better
future. This year, as members of the Law School’s award-winning Leadership Fellows
Program, Mahima Alam, Michael Asante-Appiah, Andrew Gault, Nadia Ghazal and I led
an educational workshop for local residents preparing to take their naturalization
test. We taught the hallmarks of good citizenship, American history and the freedoms
assured by the Bill of Rights. We put together study materials for the participants
while modeling the questions and answers shared by the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS).
In addition, we carried out mock interviews that resemble the actual naturalization interviews to help lessen anxiety and help candidates for citizenship know what to expect. Prof. Paula Franzese, who directs the Leadership Fellows Program, often tells us that “a bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers.” Our endeavoring to help the community actually helped each of us to appreciate even more the privilege of being of U.S. citizen and living in a participatory democracy. Our team’s advisor, immigration expert Prof. Glykeria Teji, inspired us throughout. We will graduate in May, but we plan to continue coordinating educational workshops for prospective U.S. citizens to learn and practice. In so doing, we honor the generations of immigrants who came before us and who will come after us.
Glen de los Santos (pictured) is from the Dominican Republic and is a Newark, New Jersey resident. Glen utilized the study materials that we crafted during his preparation. We were all very excited to have received the news that Glen became a U.S. citizen at the beginning of February 2025.
For more information, please contact:
Seton Hall Law School
