I became a United States citizen today, November 19, 2003. Nearly a decade after arriving in this country as a student, it is now officially home.

I came to America around 1994 from India to study at Temple University in Philadelphia. I grew up on the JNU campus in Delhi, and Philadelphia felt very far from everything I knew. But the city was good to me. I found my footing there.

In September 1995, while still at Temple, I got my first job as a software engineer at Knight Ridder in Philadelphia. That job changed the course of my life. I discovered that building software for the news industry was what I wanted to do. The work took me from Philadelphia to San Jose, California, where I am now VP of Engineering at Knight Ridder Digital.

The ceremony was held at a civic auditorium in the Philadelphia area. I came back east for it. A room full of people from all over the world, all of us about to take the same oath. When the moment came, it felt real in a way the paperwork never did. You raise your right hand, you say the words, and something shifts.

Outside the auditorium afterward, new citizens were examining their certificates and congratulating each other.

For this day, I want to thank everyone who had a role in getting me here. My family in India who supported my decision to come to America. My colleagues and mentors at Knight Ridder who gave me a chance. And Fred Mann, who hired me back in 1995 and who once stood in line with me at the immigration office in Philadelphia during my green card process. Not many bosses would do that. Fred is one of a kind.

Thank you all for caring, for your guidance, for helping me grow in ways I could not have imagined when I first arrived. I carry all of it with me.