Patricia Sequeira

I wouldn’t say there are any more freedoms than India. There’s more opportunities to get educated and study and get on top of it. You can do that in America. Great opportunities to be who you want to be.

Patricia Sequeira

Namaste! My name is Patricia Sequeira. I was born in Calcutta, India. I am married to Edric Sequeira and we have two lovely children, Eleanor, 19 and Elroy, 17.

I grew up in a loving family. My dad was an engineer and my mom was a high school teacher. I have six siblings and they are all in different parts of the world. I am the fifth child.

My childhood was full of happy memories. I sang in the choir, acted in school plays, learned Indian dancing, took piano lessons and played basketball. All subjects were taught in English. However, we had to learn Hindi, the official language of India, and Bengali, the regional language of my state, West Bengal. My parents spoke Konkani to each other and English to us.

After high school, I taught music for six months. I went on to get my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and then my Bachelor of Education degree.

We were married February 14, 1984. I joined Edric in Bahrain. We decided to start a family. Eleanor, Elroy and I were on holiday in India in the summer of 1995 when Edric called to say he had a job offer in Minneapolis at the Marquette Hotel.

I asked him, “Do you know how cold it is there? Do you know there is snow and ice there?” But we decided to accept the offer and we packed our bags and left Bahrain on November 10, 1995. That was the hardest thing for Eleanor and Elroy. They had to leave all their friends behind and start a new life in a foreign country and in a foreign culture.

I could not work because I did not have a work permit. There were times when I was sad, lonely and depressed. I discovered the library, which opened up a new whole world for us, and I started volunteering at the school.

To live in the U.S., an immigrant must have a visa. We were on Edric’s visa, and in 1997, we applied for the green card. This card is not green. However, it is the first step in becoming a U.S. citizen. We got our green cards in October 1998 and we became “lawful permanent residents.” We had to wait for five years before applying for citizenship.

This past March, Edric, Eleanor and I applied for citizenship. We studied U.S. history and civics. This was difficult, as we had to cram a lot of information in a short time. However, both Eleanor and Elroy helped us. I was the first to be interviewed.

The interviewer verified my information on my application form and told me to write the sentence “I am very happy” on the bottom of my form. I wrote in my best cursive handwriting. He then asked me some questions. Then he said, “Congratulations, you passed. Please wait for your oath ceremony letter.”

First, we took the oath of allegiance. After that, we raised our right hands and took the oath of citizenship. The judge congratulated us, and we watched a video of the president congratulating us. Finally, we received our Certificates of Citizenship.