Marie Roessler immigrated to the U.S. from Germany with her family when she was 6 years old, after World War II.

Her father was displaced because he had lived in an area of Germany that became part of Poland and he could not return.

That history nudged her to volunteer to help students prepare to take their citizenship test through the Adult Education Center, which provides the only local option for citizenship tutoring.

“I have an understanding of what they go through. Trying to learn a new language, trying to figure out this new culture they are in, can be a shock in some respects,” she said.

Foreigners also can face bias and prejudice, she said.

When Roessler, now 69, arrived with her family in 1953, Catholic Charities had a place for the family to stay in St. Louis and helped her parents find work. But there was some anti-German sentiment.

While Roessler and her mother were speaking German on the bus in St. Louis, someone tapped her mother on the shoulder and told them to speak English, she said.

“We looked like them. We didn’t have a different color of skin or anything like that. Just think about the people whose skin may be a little darker and whose eyes are a different shade and so forth,” she said. “There is a lot of, I think, bias against foreigners in this country – of course with politics we know that’s an issue. That’s an issue not just in the United States but particularly also in Europe.”

While living in St. Louis, Roessler received a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education but later went into business to support her two children and received her master’s in business administration.

In 1992, she moved to Durango, and after she retired in 2010, she started volunteering at the Education Center.

Many of her students learn English and work toward citizenship concurrently. As their English improves, they become less isolated in the community. At the same time, citizenship can open up more employment opportunities and ease some fears immigrants face, she said.

“There’s always that fear in the back of their heads that even with a permanent residence card, they (the government) might change their mind,” she said.

Roessler works with students for as long as it takes for them to feel prepared for the citizenship test, which includes an interview, a reading test and a writing test.

To pass the interview, students must correctly answer six of 10 civics questions. There are 100 possible questions that can be posed.

The questions cover civics, geography and history, and some things that natural born citizens may not know.

For example, the interviewer could ask: “The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.”

Roessler tries to give the material context by bringing in news stories showing how the branches of government described in the U.S. Constitution work. For example, she shows her students about Supreme Court decisions.

The five students she has helped decided to take the test and passed it. But there were a few that decided not to take the test.

Katherine Alarcón is one of Roessler’s recent success stories.

Ten years after applying to come to the United States legally, Alarcón’s family had two weeks to leave their home in Guatemala or leave her behind.

The window was short because Alarcón was about to turn 21, and when she did, she would have had to apply separately.

So the family gave most of its possessions away and left Guatemala City with a suitcase each for a safer life with more opportunity.

That was in 2010. Now, Alarcón is a naturalized U.S. citizen and a senior universal banker at First National Bank.

She moved with her immediate family to Durango to join her aunts, and in 2011, she started at First National Bank as part of the cleaning staff.

College courses and extra English classes she took in Guatemala helped her get a teller position, and she was quickly promoted through the ranks.

“I like banking, that was one of my dreams,” she said.

When she had been here five years, she decided to pursue her citizenship for several reasons. She had left her fiancé behind in Guatemala and she wanted to be able petition for his visa. She also didn’t want to have to reapply to be a permanent resident every 10 years, and she wanted the right to vote.

The process includes a 22-page application, an application fee and a background check before you can take the test.

“It’s a scary process because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.

She passed the test in late 2015 and she plans to stay in Durango because it is beautiful and her family found it welcoming.

Many of her customers ask her about where she is from and she is happy to chat with them.

“It’s nice to share our culture,” she said.

As a citizenship tutor, Roessler found that while there are certainly differences, discovering the similarities also is important.

“We have so many things in common. ... If we bothered to sit down and talk to each other, we could focus on them,” she said.

She has found that many feelings are universal, like the worry parents have for their children.

To her, tutoring is meaningful work.

“I have a lifetime belief in the power of education. ... Education helps broaden your world and helps lift you out of poverty,” she said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

Citizenship Tutoring

Those interested in citizenship tutoring can contract the Durango Education Center at 385-4354.

There is a $40 registration fee but that can be waived depending on circumstances.