We were thrilled to celebrate with our Inland Empire Regional Manager, Nem Costa, as he became a U.S. Citizen on July 18, 2017!
Neemias (“Nem”) was born in the seaside city of Fortaleza in Northeast Brazil. His father was a missionary and his family moved frequently so Nem grew up all over Northeastern Brazil. Taking advantage of Brazil’s bountiful beaches, he started playing volleyball at 14 and soon became an expert player. While he loved Brazil, Nem had a lot of missionary friends from the United States and was always interested in this country. In 1999, he came to the U.S. as a high school student to learn English. Recognizing that he would find better opportunities here for both college and volleyball, Nem soon returned to the United States to attend San Diego State University on a volleyball scholarship. After a year at SDSU, Nem played volleyball professionally in Mexico and Brazil before joining the Brazilian National Team. He later returned to the U.S. to attend California Baptist University and that is when he met Jodie, the woman who would become his wife. After college, Nem played professional beach volleyball for a few years before eventually becoming the Director of the Viper Volleyball Club in Temecula, CA.
Nem’s family began to grow with the birth of his son Tiago in 2009. In 2013, his daughter Mia was born. In 2016, Nem joined Four Seasons Tree Care in order to develop the Inland Empire and Orange County divisions. He has been an invaluable part of our company ever since. His positivity and enthusiasm are contagious and he has brought all the beneficial aspects of an athlete’s competitive spirit to our dynamic sales team. With professional and familial roots that had grown strong in the United States, in December 2016, Nem made the decision to pursue citizenship instead of renewing his Permanent Resident Card. The process took six months and concluded on July 18, 2017 when he took the Oath of Allegiance and became a citizen of the United States. We at Four Seasons are so proud of the choice Nem has made and of the effort it took to accomplish. He is an extraordinary person and a beloved member of our team.
Most of us will never experience what it means to choose our home country or to take an Oath of Allegiance. Below is the text of that oath:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”