While most American citizens take their rights and privileges for granted, those residents who move to the U.S. from other countries are faced with the hard work that goes along with the challenge of becoming a United States citizen.

Senior Karima Osman knows exactly what it takes to become an American citizen, as she earned her own citizenship this past Friday.

Osman was born in Bale, Ethiopia, then moved to Kenya, and finally moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 11 years old.

When she was 17, Osman decided to apply for citizenship in the United States. After filing for citizenship, the second step of the process was to take a test about the history and government of the U.S.

“They gave us 100 questions to know the answers to, but the questions weren’t very hard—it was all pretty basic,” Osman said. “For instance, two of the questions were ‘Who was the first president of the United States?’ and ‘What are the colors of the flag?’”

On Oct. 30, 2005, Osman took the citizenship test. She was asked 10 questions, and was required to answer seven correctly in order to pass. She also was required to pass a writing and a reading test, in which she had to read one sentence.

“Many people, like the ones who have just come to America, take classes to help them prepare to take the test,” Osman said. “But I learned everything I needed to know from going to school and taking government class.”

After passing the tests, Osman joined the other soon-to-be-citizens in a ceremony at the courthouse Friday, where they were required to take an oath and give up citizenship in any other country.

Osman wanted to become a citizen so she could visit her family.

“If you’re a citizen, you can get a passport and go out of the country with no problem,” Osman said. “But if you have a permanent green card, like I had, it takes six months to be approved to leave.”

Osman decided to file for citizenship so that she can enjoy the privileges all U.S. citizens enjoy.

“I think it’s great to become a citizen because you get all the rights and privileges everyone else gets,” Osman said. “You can go back to your country, become a senator, or do whatever you want. It’s a great feeling.”