Alumni Spotlight: Nabila Pirani

NABILA PIRANI Class of 2004 Interviewed by Michelle Noble | August 2017

A

member of Mulgrave’s very first graduating class, the school’s first Head Girl, and now

the Alumni Advisory Board’s first Co-Chair, Nabila Pirani has never shied away from paving the way through unchartered territory with leadership and grit. After studying in the United States, earning her Master’s from Columbia University, traveling to India, and pursing a career in law, Nabila has returned to Vancouver and is now spearheading initiatives to build the Mulgrave alumni community. In this Spotlight, Nabila touches on the path (or lack there-of) she took post Mulgrave, her tips for students looking to study law, and which Mulgrave teachers influenced her career choice. We hope you enjoy this Alumni Spotlight with Nabila Pirani.

ABOVE: Nabila at the call to the bar

As Co-chair of the newly formed

we’re at such an important stage of

did you know you wanted to study

Alumni Advisory Board, you have the

alumni community-building, and I’m

law?

responsibility of working with a team

so excited about the opportunities

to engage and connect the Mulgrave

we have – as an Advisory Board – to

alumni community. What motivated

lay the foundations for a strong and

you to want to take on a position like

well-connected alumni community.

this?

I think the retention of institutional

When I moved back to Vancouver, I had already been an alumni liaison for a few years. I knew, however, that I wanted to reconnect with the school in a more substantial way and that I was ready to give back to a community that had given me so much. And so, when the opportunity to be Co-Chair of the newly-formed Alumni Advisory Board presented itself, I jumped.

With over 600 alumni and hundreds of alumni families and teachers,

history (warts and all!) is crucial for any community, and I’m looking forward to sharing my perspective as a member of the first graduating class with those who graduated after me and to learning about their experiences. My hope is that, through reflection and dialogue, we can create an alumni community that is inclusive and welcoming of all the varied experiences that Mulgrave alumni have had over the past thirteen years.

Graduating from Mulgrave in 2004,

Not at all! Growing up, I was the kid who wanted to be something different every six months. When I was three or four, I told my parents I wanted to be a fisher(wo)man – I then ended up being a vegetarian for about fifteen years, so that didn’t really work out. In high school, I wanted to be everything from an engineer to a cancer researcher to a diplomat. When I graduated from Mulgrave, I knew that I wanted to study political science and maybe be a member of our foreign service - but not much apart from that.

Truth be told, career-wise, I was pretty lost. It wasn’t until graduate school and my brief flirtation with academia/public policy that

energies into the current one, and to focus on it rather than being fixated on a destination that may or may not exist.

What advice would you give to students who are interested in pursuing a career in law?

The biggest piece of advice that I can give to students interested in pursuing a career in law is: talk to lawyers. That might sound obvious, but I think it’s so important to understand what a career in law is ABOVE: Nabila at her Columbia graduation ceremony

I realised it was through law that

this sort of thinking diminishes the

my various interests actually came

many valuable experiences that we

together.

have that don’t neatly fit into this

How did you choose your career path?

idea of a career path. For example, in such a teleological understanding of our careers, at best, my Master’s

actually like before jumping in. Legal careers vary based on jurisdiction, area of practice, year of call, and whether one practices in a firm or for government, among other factors, and so it’s important to speak with as many lawyers as you can.

As one of the many lawyers

degree from Columbia and my public

who studied political science at

policy research fellowship at the Asia

university before attending law

Pacific Foundation of Canada (two

school, some might say that I had a

very valuable experiences without

pretty clear path to law. I certainly

which I wouldn’t be the person I

chose to attend the Faculty of Arts at

am today) are mere blips on my

UBC-Vancouver and chose Political

path from political science major to

You spent a summer in India while

Science as one of my majors, but I

lawyer.

working towards your Master’s

(Of course, if any current students or alumni are interested in learning more about a career in law, I’m more than happy to chat.)

in Middle Eastern, South Asian

graduated from UBC in 2009 and, at that point, law school wasn’t even on

Maybe this is a result of the various

and African Studies at Columbia

my radar.

experiences I have had, but I like to

University. What brought you to

think about my career as a series

India?

I don’t necessarily see my career

of steps – rather than as a path. To

as being defined by a particular

me, there probably is no path and,

path. Having a path presupposes a

if one exists, it is always changing.

teleological purpose to our careers

To me, it’s about the next step that

– that there’s a destination that

you take. And maybe the current

we’re walking towards – and that any

step doesn’t flow perfectly from

step that is off that path is merely

the previous one, but, in my mind,

an aberration or a detour. To me,

thinking of my career as a series of steps allows me to put all my

Urdu is one of my favourite languages and, by the time I got to Columbia, I had already studied it for a few years at UBC and was looking forward to taking further classes during graduate school.

During my first year at Columbia, I heard about the American Institute

“

WITH OVER 600 ALUMNI AND HUNDREDS OF ALUMNI FAMILIES AND TEACHERS, WE’RE AT SUCH AN IMPORTANT STAGE OF ALUMNI COMMUNITY-BUILDING.

”

of Indian Studies’ Urdu language

I wouldn’t find it difficult at all. In

important to me, and I went to

programme in Lucknow, India, and

fact, the opposite was true, and I had

India thinking that I was quite South

couldn’t resist the opportunity to

serious culture shock.

Asian. I returned to North America

study the language further in one of

realising just how very Canadian I

the most important cities for Urdu

Living in New York, I had this

language and literature. I applied for

wonderful sense of anonymity

the programme and, shortly after

wherever I went. I am obviously

On the more practical side, I learned

finishing my first year of graduate

South Asian and female, some people

that eating too many mangoes

school, moved to India for a few

were able to place my accent as

during mango season is a thing,

months.

being “Canadian”, but that was often

and that drinking water off the

it. In Lucknow, I often found that,

side of the road in a city flooded by

as soon as I said my name, people

monsoons is a really bad idea.

Did you find it was a difficult adjustment moving from New York? What did you learn from the experience?

would place me and my identity into various boxes and, regularly, boxes that I didn’t necessarily identify with.

actually am.

Where are you currently working and what does a typical day look like for you?

I had been to India previously, spoke

And so, I constantly struggled with

a few Indian languages fluently, and

being expected to act pursuant to

I’m an associate lawyer in the

had studied the region for a number

boxes that I had never really thought

banking and debt financing group

of years; and so, when I got onto

about. Growing up in North America,

at Lawson Lundell LLP, here in

that plane to India, I naively thought

my South Asian heritage has always

Vancouver. We represent both

been – and continues to be – very

ABOVE: Nabila in India - Delhi.

NABILA PIRANI

“

ABOVE: Nabila speaking at an assembly at Mulgrave School. (Taken in 2004)

NOT ONLY DID MR. HARDY MAKE THE STUDY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES INTERESTING, HE MADE IT IMPORTANT AND FORCED US TO THINK CRITICALLY AND IMAGINATIVELY ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND US. MOST IMPORTANTLY, HE GAVE US SPACE TO FIND OUR OWN VOICES.

”

borrowers and lenders in a variety

on the basketball and volleyball

Mulgrave teachers who had a huge

of corporate and commercial

teams.

impact on me. Ms. Morgan and

transactions. There really is no

Mr. Vodrey to name just two. Mr.

typical day in my world, which is

Thankfully, by the time we got to

Hardy, though, is one of the biggest

something I really enjoy about the

high school, we got to ‘specialise’.

reasons I ended up making the

practice of law. On any given day,

I had grown up playing tennis, so

switch from wanting to pursue a

I’ll do everything from drafting and

I played on the badminton team

career in the sciences to studying

reviewing documents, to liaising

throughout high school. I also

political science. Had it not been

with clients and opposing counsel

sang in the choir and did musical

for his making us read Machiavelli’s

about ongoing transactions, to

theatre. One of my most memorable

The Prince in Grade 10 or 11 and

researching current law.

experiences is playing Mother

streaming the UN Security Council

Abbess and being stage manager

debates in March 2003, I likely

in our production of the Sound of

would have never ended up wanting

Music in Grade 11. I was also involved

to study poli-sci. Not only did Mr.

in various leadership capacities, first

Hardy make the study of social

Mulgrave was such a small school

as a member of Student Council and

sciences interesting, he made it

when I started in Grade 4 that

then as Head Student of the first

important and forced us to think

most of us did everything – from

graduating class.

critically and imaginatively about the

What were some of your passions while you were a student at Mulgrave?

participating in all the sports teams to being a part of the annual school play! In Middle School, many of us ran cross country, swam, and played

Did any teachers have a profound influence on you?

Definitely. There are a number of

world around us. Most importantly, he gave us space to find our own voices.

Nabila Pirani, 2017