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