Canada took a turn...

2026 has been an extremely challenging year for me.

If I am being completely transparent, I had to intentionally step back from showing up publicly for my own protection and self-preservation. I needed to stop pouring outward so that I could pour back into myself, and into my immediate Mentees.

Hello my Sky Loungers!

Did you miss me??

Because I absolutely missed you. And I am truly sorry that I ghosted you. Canada got hard. It got overwhelming. The truth is, I have been struggling mentally and emotionally, facing challenges and opposition that simply became too heavy to carry.

Here is the reality of the immigrant journey that nobody warns you about: Passing the PEBC exams is just one of many, many battles you will have to fight here.

The caveat to those other battles? They aren't ones you can necessarily prepare or study for. They can, and will, catch you completely off guard. Suddenly, you wake up one day and realize: I am drowning!

In those exact moments, the most important question you will ever need to ask yourself is:

"What is my WHY?"

This is a key question I ask my Mentees at the beginning of Mentorship.

• WHY are you pursuing this goal?

• WHY do you want to PASS the PEBCs?

• WHY do you want to be a Canadian Pharmacist?

The past 6 months have been my personal testimony that having a strong WHY is not a suggestion. It is a survival necessity if you plan to endure this journey long-term.

I know my WHY, and I plan to tell you, but before I do that, I want to talk about WHO I am.

"Who is Khamoye?"

Loss of our personal identity is an unfortunate reality within the International Pharmacist community. We come to Canada with the grand plan to "re-invent" ourselves. I mean, I get it and I agree completely. One of my own WHYs for transitioning to Canada was to create the most epic version of my life; mentally, professionally, personally, financially, physically, spiritually... all the -allys. I planned to give myself the ultimate UPGRADE.

But here’s the catch... my identity did NOT start on February 23, 2024, when I landed in Canada.

My identity started the day I was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica. To take it a step further, Jeremiah 1:5 tells me that "BEFORE I formed you in the womb I knew you." Before I even knew myself, I had an identity. I had a purpose. I was known. I was loved.

Canada has not assigned me an identity. Canada is reaping the rewards of a seed planted many, many, many years ago. Canada is a harvest season. Not a planting season. I was whole and complete BEFORE I arrived here. I am a Fruit, producing more seed, to propagate multiplication. I am not here to "find myself," I am here to live in the FULLness of who I was created to be all along.

So here’s how I recalibrated my mindset out of this depressive hole I sunk into:

• I prayed.

• I cried.

• I reflected on my WHY.

• I went back to my roots.

Jamaica healed me

I love living in Canada and I love the life I am building here. I'm happy that Canada feels like home. However... nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, can ever come close to the way Jamaica makes me feel.

This trip was less a vacation and more a medically necessary operation. I didn't just want to be in Jamaica. I NEEDED to be there.

I needed the nostalgia. I needed the simplicity of my island home. I needed my family. I needed my childhood memories. I needed the familiar streets. I needed my room that I shared with my sister & niece. I needed the blazing sun. I needed a real beach (if you know, you know looll). I needed the food. I needed the absolute chaos & vibrancy of my Jamaican people.

Jamaica has my roots. This is where my character was built.

My discipline. My determination. My ambitions. My appetite for excellence. My passion. My kindness. My love. My creativity. My skills. My intelligence. My work ethic.

As IPGs, we know we're transferring our international pharmacy experience to Canada. But that's not all. You're transferring your full self. You're using your full life experiences from your respective home countries to thrive here.

Our success in Canada is not solely dependent on just our pharmacy skills. It's all of you. It's all of me. All of it is important.

Your WHY is your root

Success is the Fruit

Let me say that again. Your WHY is your root. Success is the Fruit.

The #1 reason you are second-guessing your journey right now is because you are outcome-focused rather than tending to your roots. Look at how easy it is to get trapped in a "fruit-focused" mindset:

• You failed the PEBC... maybe Canada isn't for you. (fruit focused)

• No one will hire you for a Pharmacy Assistant job (fruit focused)

• Your coworkers are unkind to you (fruit focused)

• You're losing friendships & relationships so you're isolating (fruit focused)

• You expected to be successful in Canada by now. It's taking too long (fruit focused)

• You expected to have moved go Canada already (fruit focused)

• Your immigration process has been disappointment, after disappointment (fruit focused)

A good Pharmer (farmer) waters their plant from the roots. No one waters a fruit and expects the plant to live and thrive; it’s nonsensical! However, a true Pharmer has all the confidence that watering their roots will lead to the natural outcome of the fruit.

One of the worst things we can do is rebrand what we once described as a Blessing as a curse the moment the path becomes rough.

Plants weather every season, and the fruit still comes. One thing I love about Canada is the opportunity to experience all four seasons. It fascinates me how the environment responds to the changes, how the trees are designed to adapt to the weather so they can optimize their odds of surviving. What's interesting is that those great big trees, the ones that are thousands of years old, have an elaborate root system. In the winter, when the trees look bare and fruitless, still their roots sustain them.

"What is my WHY?"

So what's my WHY?

My Family

My Purpose

My Mentees

My Patients

I am a Jamaican. I was born to be resilient.

Money, titles, platforms, success, recognition... these are fruits. They're a natural outcome, once I focus on my roots.

As your Canadian Pharmacist re-licensing concierge, you are in the best hands with IPG Mentorship Canada I'm not just showing you the Path to PASS (and you will PASS), I'm re-calibrating your mindset to thrive in Canada and thriving includes weathering your storms. Let's do this together!

I can't wait to talk with you again.

If this post resonated with you, please let me know. I want us to have a community together. Send me an email: [email protected]

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"Me likkle, but me tallawah!"