SOUTHPORT, N.C. (WECT) – More than 100 people from different corners of the world gathered on the Fort Johnston Lawn in Southport Wednesday afternoon. They couldn’t have come from more different upbringings and backgrounds, but just two hours after they all met, they all had one new thing in common: they were all new American citizens.
The North Carolina Fourth of July Festival hosts a naturalization ceremony every year, but this year the festival welcomed its largest number of new U.S. citizens yet. During this year’s ceremony, 109 people from close to 35 countries pledged their allegiance to the country and received their Certificates of Naturalization.
For many, it was a moment years in the making.
“I’m very proud to finally become a U.S. citizen,” Nina Zhelev said. “I take that as a great achievement. For a lot of people that’s a birth-given right, but for me, it’s an achievement. Many many years in the works.”
Zhelev first moved to the United States from Bulgaria 20 years ago with her husband. She said it was his dream for them to build a better life in America.
“He’s actually the person that we all owe that to because it was first of all his childhood dream to come and live and establish a family in the States,” Zhelev said. “We followed him and we’ve never regretted that decision. So thanks to him we are here today.”
Unfortunately, Zhelev’s husband died before he could reach citizenship status. She carried his ashes with her at the ceremony as a reminder that her new reality as a U.S. citizen all started as his dream decades ago.
Zhelev’s children, who were both born in the U.S., greeted her with a hug after she got her Certificate of Naturalization. Zhelev’s daughter, Mimi, became emotional talking about how she helped her mom through the process.
“I helped her study for her test that she had to pass,” Mimi Zhelev said. “I’m just so proud. She’s very deserving of this opportunity. I’m just so happy for her.”
Festival president Randy Jones says the naturalization ceremony is an annual reminder for him that being born in the United States is a privilege not many get to have.
“The naturalization ceremony is definitely one of my favorites because I look at the idea that these guys had to work to become citizens,” Jones said. “I look at their eyes and I see the excitement. But for me it’s personally it’s a reminder of just how lucky I am to be an American. Their energy becomes part of my energy.”
Zhelev hopes she won’t wake up from her American Dream anytime soon.
“Having the ceremony the day right before the Fourth of July, it’s very symbolic to me and I couldn’t be happier,” Zhelev said. “It was a moment that I will cherish all my life and I will never ever forget.”
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