This woman is almost a century old, but it isn't too late for her to take advantage of all her new citizenship has to offer.
Chenyi Pan, 97, spent most of her life in China, but found herself without family in her home country when her children came to America to study, and her husband died in 2009, Winona Daily News reported. It was then that she decided to join her son and daughter in the U.S. A few months ago, the 97-year-old became a U.S. citizen, and on Tuesday, she will get to exercise one of the rights that comes with her citizenship -- the ability to vote.
"She feels the U.S. is the best country in the world. She wants to make the kind of contribution she can," Pan's daughter, Ting Ni, told CBS Minnesota of Pan's intention to vote.
Pan, who now resides in Winona, Minnesota, was quickly approved to come to the U.S. back in 2009, since she no longer had any family members in China. She obtained her citizenship in September.
Since becoming a citizen, Pan has been prepping for Election Day on Nov. 4 with the help of her daughter and has an idea of how she'll be voting, according to the Winona Daily News.
"Both parties are good parties, but I like the Democratic Party," she told the outlet.
Though Pan became a U.S. citizen this year, she has always been a fan of the United States, and says she credits American forces with helping her family make it through World War II.
"She was so impressed," Ni told CBS of her mother's reaction to the food and supplies American pilots had dropped off during the war. "She says they couldn’t survive without the help of American even back in the 1940s."
Pan says that she's grateful to even be able to participate in the election.
"I feel I'm honored to be a citizen and to be able to vote in the American election," she told CBS.
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