Gloucester County got a new American citizen on Dec. 7 when Raquel Ott took her Pledge of Allegiance to the United States during a naturalization ceremony in Norfolk.

Born in Brazil, Raquel graduated high school in the mid-1990s, obtained her teaching certificate, and began teaching first and second graders. She also worked as an English tutor. Raquel grew up in a home with a father who was a Baptist pastor, her mother, who was a homemaker, and an older brother. She began seriously thinking about moving away from home, and saw the United States as the place where she wanted to be.

In 1999, after much online research into various types of employment, Raquel decided to accept a position as an au pair with a New York couple who had a home in Florida and a two-week-old baby boy. The job included airfare, room and board, and a weekly salary. Raquel would take care of the child and do light housekeeping.

But things didn’t work out with the couple. Their home was in a suburban area, ...