Proud to Be an American, This July 4th and Always

By: Adriana “Obi” Obogeanu

“America Is Another Name For Opportunity”

–?Ralph Waldo Emerson

As we celebrate Independence Day in the United States this weekend, I look back on my own American journey and what independence and freedom mean to me, as a Romanian who came to this country over 2 decades ago in search of the famous “American Dream” and now a proud U.S. citizen

I grew up in a tyrannical regime in Romania, where there was no freedom and our access to the outside world was limited.?December 1989 marked not only the end of a 24 year long tyrannical regime in Romania, but more importantly, the beginning of freedom for the country where I was born and raised.?And though the newly gained sovereignty took entire decades to completely liberate my country and its people from the chains of communist ideologies, the events of 1989 represented the beginning of a new destiny.?With the elimination of censorship of the old regime, the Romanian people were allowed to now learn about, visit, and explore the Western world.?For me, it was always America that held the answer to a happy life.?

I remember in my teenage years looking across the Atlantic Ocean in awe and admiring from a distance the land of opportunity.?Freedom of choice, personal liberties, and the promises of capitalism were very alluring, and I somehow knew that one day I would move to the United States and do everything I could to make my own “American Dream” come true.?After graduating high school, I chose to take a major leap of faith and move to the States, where I soon learned that the opportunities I read about truly did exist in abundance.?It was such a breath of fresh air to be able to make dreams come true, to learn that the path from vision to reality was in fact simple, and to know that all it required was determination and focus.?The opportunity was always there.?

Within my first ten years of living in the States, I came to appreciate my new country and everything it has offered me, to include citizenship and a home for my son.?I decided the only way I could repay my debt to this country and what it had provided me was to join the military as an active-duty Marine.?The Marine Corps became my second family, and I was able to deeply identify with its core values of honor, courage, and commitment. During my military service, and my tenure as a financial manager, I learned the importance of serving, enforcing the principles our country stands for, and respecting public opinion in both internal and external affairs.?As part of my self-improvement journey, I pursued a master’s degree in Public Policy, International Affairs with the goal of continuing to serve our country even after retirement from active-duty service.?Post-retirement, I was offered yet another amazing opportunity, to work for Significance Inc., supporting the Department of Defense in its journey of achieving a clean audit opinion and its transition to a new financial system.?Both pursuits share a common goal: the modernization of the DoD that will enable improved efficiencies in a complex and ever-changing environment, considering new emerging global threats.?No small task, yet I am happy to embark on this innovative journey as part of an amazing company, whose culture focuses on its people and values teamwork.?

I am blessed and honored to be able to celebrate this 4th of July in our country’s capital, amongst the living memory and monuments of our founding fathers, looking at our amazing country and understanding its value to the rest of the world.?We are the one and only symbol of light, hope, freedom, and opportunity in this world.??