America, Land of Opportunity - October 9, 2008

Hanna is 18 today.   When she got home from school yesterday, she told us she received a letter at school, wishing her Happy 18th Birthday along with an Oregon application to register to vote, so she could vote in the upcoming national/state/local election in November.   She was astounded that a non-US citizen, here on a special Visa as an exchange student, could get such a thing.   She said she turned the application back in to the office at school.  I told Hanna that I was not surprised, as I bet that anyone registered in any public school in Oregon who turns 18 during the school year probably gets a similar letter, as the school forms don't require a statement of citizenship.  

Welcome to America, Land of Opportunity - Vote early and vote often . . . . .

I also told Hanna that another benefit of now being 18 is that she can volunteer to join any of the US Armed Forces, since citizenship is NOT required to be in our military.    She said that her Visa would prohibit that, to which I said that any Recruiter who knows what he/she is doing could probably get around that pretty easily - they will do most anything to get their monthly enlistment quotas filled.     As part of the registration process for Hanna at Scappoose High, we made sure to check the NO box regarding contact by Armed Forces recruiters, so she does not get contacted at school and we don't start getting mail from the various services.    We are pretty sure that Hanna's plan is to return home to Germany on June 13, 2009, as a civilian, and to finish school so she can go on to college or university.