This first -person column is written by Keerthy Vinukonda, who lives in Toronto. For more information about first person stories, see Frequently asked questions.
I hurried to the bus stop just after midnight after an occupied shift in a pizzeria that supervised the staff and assured me that the orders were prepared correctly. It was not my ideal job, I had obtained a pharmacy title in India, but it was one of the few that would put an international student like me on the permanent residence track.
As the minutes crawled and no bus appeared, I realized that I had lost it.
After another 30 minutes standing around -15 C, the next bus finally came to take me to the subway. It was 2 in the morning when I finally walked down the steps to the rent of my basement.
The cold winter moments like this made me question my choices and if my hope of being Canadian worth the fight.
Despite being completely exhausted, I got up early the next day, reviewing the dream in organic chemistry for a pharmaceutical equivalence exam, a necessary step to obtain my recognized Indian title in Canada.
The alert was my sister’s tone of my twin sister by telephone of India. I was anxious to come to Canada, based on representations similar to the sky of this country in India in many media ads that promised easy job. I tried to stop his enthusiasm when listing cold realities, such as climate and obstacles in my professional career.
Once upon a time, I also used to dream of coming to Canada. But my dreams did not include the turns and turns that I would experience on my trip to become Canadian.
Sold in promises
Given that High levels of unemployment For young professionals and educated in India, it was difficult to find a job, even with my title, so I decided to study abroad.
I arrived in Toronto with a study permit in 2016 and finally completed a medical care administration program in 2017 from a private university. Then I obtained another certificate from an institution with public funds.
After graduation, I obtained a work permit and worked six days a week as a supervisor on duty. They assigned me to three restaurants who were far from where I lived. He had 20 hours of travel travel every week.
The work at the restaurant was a world of the career he had trained for, but because the work was considered “Canadian skilled work experience“He described me for the express immigration flow. In 2021, I received a letter inviting me to request a permanent residence, and I became a Canadian citizen three years later.
It was ironic that the day they invited my news headlines from the citizenship ceremony focused on a new limit on study permits for international students, citing schools, including one, Alpha College, which I had attended, which gave birth. “impostor“Grades or were”Bad actors.“I have nothing wrong to say about students or instructors, but courses in Alpha College could have had more substance.
According to reports, the federal government is considering limiting the number of international students allowed to study in Canada. Andrew Chang breakdown why experts say that international students are an integral part of the economy and striving for an overloaded housing system.
When I arrived, I was lucky to find rooms at reasonable prices to rent, and I avoided the expensive overcrowded house that was common among my friends.
But just like falling on ice, not everything flowed gently for me.
Despite graduating from “first class with distinction” in India, I could not approve the equivalence exams of Canadian pharmacy. I was emotionally exhausted and physically burned to travel long distances to work in a job that was not related to my studies. Although later I found work as a pharmacy assistant, I cannot say about being a pharmacist in Canada.
Given what had happened, I would like to have heard more realistic perspectives of people than in Canada instead of immigration advice companies in India, which announced that it could earn more money in a month than people in India in a year. I thought I could provide a luxury lifestyle for me and my family.
It was not easy to draw a path when reality was very different from my expectations.
But he considered everything, I am proud to be a Canadian citizen. Although I have dealt with some rude customers in my different works in Canada, in general, I can see that there is a basic level of respect for all people. People can live their lives freely, and that is something I value. I started a family here.
The moments of singing Or Canada In the citizenship and vote ceremony in a election in Canada for the first time there are pleasant memories that will last forever.
Some of my friends from India use the words “back home” to describe India. Life does not always leave perfectly, but after a long way to permanent residence and citizenship, I am proud to call Canada my home.
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