Because this is an election year, groups from both political parties set up booths near the entrances of the Fresno Convention Center for a chance to register some of the 849 new naturalized citizens from last Thursday's ceremony.
Raisin City School District Superintendent Juan Sandoval was one of the first in line to register.
"It was about time," said 52 year-old Sandoval.
The native of Guanajuato, México has been a legal resident since 1975 and recently decided to take the final steps toward U.S. citizenship.
"I have always been the type of person who has achieved one goal after another. When I was working in the fields, my goal was to get out. When I left, my goal was to go to college. When I finished college, my goals was to become a teacher and from there, I was just waiting for the right time to reach my ultimate goal of becoming an American citizen," Sandoval said.
It was not just a personal goal he wanted to achieve. In the process, Sandoval wanted to teach his four children something valuable.
"I wanted my children to learn something very important throughout this process and that was that they didn't necessarily have to be a U.S. citizen to succeed. My personal goal was to reach the highest position in education for my children to understand this piece of the process," he said.
Sandoval said he is proud of his most recent success because everything he has accomplished has come with humble beginnings. However, he was not alone. His mother and father raised nine children in the city of Wasco and each of them attended college and obtained professional degrees.
His parents -- hard working agricultural workers that migrated throughout the Central Valley -- always stressed the importance of an education because they wanted the best for their children. Sandoval was the first of the nine to attend college.
Growing up, Sandoval worked in the fields with his parents while taking classes at Bakersfield Junior College. Then he found another job as a welder. When he transferred to California Polytechnic State University -- to study technology and industrial arts -- he came home every weekend and during the short summer months to the Central Valley to work and save money to pay for his college tuition and related expenses.
Two years later he would graduate with a degree, debt free.
Shortly after graduation, he was offered a teaching job at Delano High School. It would be his first job as a professional.
"At first I wanted to be a school teacher focused on technology and industrial arts, but ended up teaching every other subject, except what I had studied in school," he said.
However, his career choices were leading him in the right direction.
After spending eight years at Delano High School, he was offered a job at Parlier High School as director. He led the bilingual program over the next three years until he received an offer he could not refuse.
"I was asked to apply for the position of school superintendent for the Raisin City School District," recalls Sandoval.
The rest is history.
Since 2010 Sandoval has overseen one of the smallest and poorest districts located in an area where most families rely on temporary or seasonal field work. Their incomes are low and most people in the unincorporated community live below the poverty line. Sandoval hopes that with his leadership, more can be done for the students attending his school and community.
"I want all Latinos to obtain an education. Today, it is the best they can do and the most important route they should take. It will not be easy because there is nothing in this life that comes easy, but I want all my students to know that with hard work, anything is possible in life," he said.
Sandoval feels the same about voting.
"Latinos have to vote because our vote is our only voice in this country. If we want something positive to happen in the economy and in respect with immigration, this is the only possible way for change. This is the year of the Latino vote. We are here in large numbers and now, we need to become citizens and exercise that right," he said.
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cmoreno@vidaenelvalle.com