My journey to become an Australian citizen

Last week we learnt about Australian cultural diversity. This week your teacher may also work with you to complete a writing activity or recording an interview on Harmony Day. The best articles which will become part of a future blog post. 

This week we read about a DL student, whose  pride and love of Australia drew her to become an Australian citizen.

My name is Emily and I am from Taiwan. I have been in Australia for 5 years and recently received my Australian Citizenship Certificate on Australia Day. I would like to share with you how I gained my citizenship and the highlights of the citizenship ceremony.

I started my citizenship preparation 1 month before the examination day. The first thing I did was go to my local town hall to get the resource book Australian Citizenship – Our Common Bond. I spent 1 week reading this, then downloaded an App called Australian Citizenship Test Practice to my smartphone. After that, I spent half an hour a day using the App to practice the test questions. I felt confident by doing this practice. On the examination day, I was well prepared and passed the test on my first go.

Emily's local newspaper

 There were a few factors that made my citizenship ceremony such a special day.  First of all, the ceremony was on Australia Day, 26 January 2017 and it was a  glorious day with bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine. Secondly, my parents-in-law drove all the way from Victoria to South Australia to attend my ceremony.  It was wonderful to have my family there to share my happiness. Another factor was that I was the only Asian among the 36 new citizens. Finally it was  not just my citizenship ceremony, but also everybody celebrated Australia Day. We had the local mayor lead us in singing Advance Australia Fair and we read out the pledge together. During the ceremony we had some Australian signature food- sausages with bread, pavlova and pancakes with jam. We all experienced the Australia Day spirit.

The following week, surprisingly, I saw an article in the local newspaper. It was titled ‘Gawler welcomes record new citizens’ with a photo of our group and the mayor. The mayor said that she thought of the positive impacts that new citizens make in the community, “I think that it will enrich our community, I always think of the different food we get to experience. Over time, understanding different cultures and welcoming people from different parts of the world into our community will make us stronger.”  For me, it was such a wonderful day that gave me a lot of great memories. I am proud to say, I am an Australian. Ozi ozi ozi! Oi oi oi!    

Would you like to know more about the citizenship test? Click to go to the Australian Citizenship resources HERE.

• Why do some people want to become Australian Citizens?
• If you wanted to become an Australian citizen would you use the App to study?
• The new citizens ate Australian signature food -sausages on bread and pavlova. What do you think is a typical Australian dish?