From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect and whose laws I will uphold and obey. Boom - done! I’m now officially an Australian Citizen. It feels appropriate as I quickly approach my 21st anniversary of living in the Great Southern Land.
I’m not sure what I had in mind walking into the official ceremony on Wednesday afternoon but I often find that leaving any expectations at the door is always the best way to approach life and this event wasn't any different. I had cycled from work, after having a banh mi lunch with my Aussie colleagues (it’s Australia’s favourite sandwich after all) and got changed from Tech School attire into fancy/casual attire in the bathrooms of the Civic Hall in Ballarat.
There were 87 people becoming Citizens at this particular ceremony and it was the most diverse crowd of people I’d ever seen gather in Ballarat in the 10 years I’ve lived here. It was wonderful. There were huge families and couples and single souls like myself, all with family and friends cheering from the guest seating. I sat next to a lovely woman from India who was about to have her second child in Ballarat after living here for 8 years.
She is a teacher and said that she had learned the most about Australian culture from her students who she missed dearly after going on maternity leave. She was so excited about becoming a citizen before her baby was born because now they’ll be an Australian citizen too.
The ceremony itself was hosted by the Mayor, Cr Tracey Hargreaves, which was awesome because I wanted to meet her so I could invite her to a leadership event we’re having with our student leaders next term (tick). There were also any council members who were available and Juliana Addison MP, who I always enjoy catching up with.
I thought we were going to have to recite the pledge I opened this blog with individually but we did it all as a group - which makes sense now considering how many of us there were. Even reading the names out loud - which a City Council staff member did an extraordinary job of - took about 40 minutes.
The ceremony was more emotional than I thought it was going to be. Watching all of the families getting up together to receive their certificate and gift (a little plant for adults and soft toy kangaroo/wombat/koala for the kids) after shaking hands the mayor was quite moving. Most people had family or friends in the crowd who were cheering them on. Lots of babies and little kids were making a racket. Everyone posed for a professional photo with the mayor, which we will all get a copy of as a gift from the council which is a nice touch.
I knew the photographer, Andrew, from previous events I’d gone to so asked him if he’d take a snap of our family together - I can’t remember the last time we were all in the same photo together. Now we’ll have one with the mayor that we can give to our families for Christmas! You think I’m joking but full (nice) family photos are in pretty hot demand for Grandparents!
I wanted to introduce the kids to Juliana and the Mayor because I think it's important that young people understand that the people who run the show are real people and completely approachable if you’re polite about it. We got talking and Frank had the ear of the Mayor whilst Matt and I were distracted. We heard Tracey saying something like - hmmm thats a great Idea but I don’t think its possible… Frank had asked if, just for one day, the bubble taps at school could have coke in them. Good on him, he’d done exactly as we’d asked, been polite and talked about something that was relevant to who he was talking to - he was a bit off tap but Tracey was very diplomatic.
It was fun getting to share this whole experience with my family and the rest of the families who have chosen to call Ballarat and Australia home. It was a more joyful occasion than I’d imagine it would be. In our household, the main focus leading up to the event has been how excited the kids were about getting pulled out of school early. Their number one dream (and request) has been to have their names called out over the school intercom and finally it happened. It was totally worth it, they reported back - they felt important being called out. So did I at the end of the day.
Even though I nearly missed my name because they called out ‘Jessica May Kelly’ and I’m so used to just being Jess Kelly, it felt important standing up to receive my certificate and little plant from the Mayor. Witnessing how significant this day was for the tens of families who I stood alongside made it more meaningful to me. After 20 years of living, breathing and by most counts, being Australian, now I officially am.
