Gaining Citizenship

When I was a little kid, I probably didn't know what citizenship was. When I was a teenager and college-aged, I didn't think much of it. I never looked around my high school or university thinking, "Gee, I wonder if everyone here is a citizen, or has a green card." I just assumed that some of my classmates (and their families) had immigrated here from other countries, were studying abroad, or were on foreign exchange programs.

Nowadays, I find myself surrounded by folks, young and old, who are faced with citizenship decisions. Today, at the Latino community center, a woman came up to me with papers stating that she was ineligible for health insurance coverage due to her immigration status. She was slightly exasperated, explaining that she's lived here for five years...but...I don't think she's established citizenship yet.

The other day, I was in the library with my buddy and we were discussing our future job options after our current studies. He's Syrian-born and came here on scholarship to get his Master's Degree at Clark U. Good for him! BUT, his only choices of gaining citizenship post-Master's are (1) join the U.S. military, or (2) continue on for his Ph.D. (and get sponsored), neither of which he'd like to do. So what does it come down to? He's applying to become a Canadian citizen! I never would have imagined that to be the third option, but apparently it is.

This is just one more topic that my little American brain has never had the opportunity to ponder until now. What would I do in that situation?