A New U.S. Citizen

In October 2016, Mon Tamong, accompanied by her family, happily attended the Naturalization ceremony that officially made her a U.S. citizen. The week before, Mon had passed her citizenship test, after enthusiastically participating in NSC's Citizenship Preparation class.

Like many other Nepali people, after being driven out of Bhutan, Mon had spent the majority of her life in a UN refugee camp in Nepal. While there she married and had two children. In 2011, Mon and her family came to the U.S. as refugees, settling in South Philadelphia. Her husband began working, her children enrolled in school, and Mon began learning English in classes in her neighborhood.

After being screened as eligibile on NSC's Citizenship Day, Mon began NSC's class in September, where she and her classmates studied U.S. history, civics, and government. Mon studied diligently, memorizing the 100 civics questions by writing them over and over in her notebook, a strategy which also supported her acquisition of essential English literacy skills. Her hard work paid off when she passed the test. She is thrilled that her U.S. citizenship enables her to apply for citizenship for her two children.

NSC's Citizenship Preparation class has been offered for the past four years during spring, summer, and fall terms. To be eligible for the class, a student must have Permanent Resident status (a green card) for at least 4.5 years and demonstrate significant English speaking and literacy skills - skills which are evaluated in the naturalization exam. To date, all of the nineteen students from twelve countries who have taken the exam after participating in NSC's class have passed.

NSC's next Citizenship Prep class will begin on March 27, 2017. Learn more about Citizenship Prep and other English classes at NSC.