Yesterday I met with a client, an experienced lawyer from South America, for a private tutoring class. He is a proud new father who had been out of a job for several months because of Covid. He described how grateful he was to now be working multiple jobs so he can afford his rent and support his family despite working in positions that were beneath his stature. At the end of our class, I told him there would be no charge for our session. He lit up and got emotional.
After our class, I sat to think about what happened and why I wanted to help this particular individual at this moment. I realize I wanted to repay him for inspiring me and reminding me of my own humble roots.
This person embodies the immigrant spirit in Canada. My own family moved to Canada when I was only a year old, their second immigration to a new country, each time starting from scratch. In my early years, I grew up in a single parent home with my mother working multiple jobs to support my sister and I. I am the first generation to graduate with a university degree not once, but thrice. I graduated from top tier institutions and qualified as a lawyer in Ontario and New York and have achieved success, but I’m continually reminded where we started.
My mother eventually remarried to someone who immigrated to Canada around the same time we did. I learned the value of hard work from my parents. At only 11 years old, I would walk around my neighbourhood in the dead of winter knocking on doors to shovel driveways for money. I distinctly remember bringing my earnings home and handing them to my mother. My hands and feet completely numb from the cold, but I was so proud I could contribute to our home. I worked at my father’s mechanic and body shop every single summer from at least the age of 12 until I completed high school. Oil, grease, and gasoline are smells that still bring back happy memories. I proudly bear the scars on my hands from my time working as a mechanic. I became the youngest Ontario Drive Clean inspector when Ontario introduced vehicle emission regulations. This job required you to get on all fours underneath vehicles to properly strap them down to the dynamometer. I later obtained my used car salesperson license and sold vehicles at our family-run business. While pursuing a business degree at the University of Toronto, I worked at an accounting firm for nearly a year as an intern and I later got a very cool job in forensic accounting. After graduation I took a job in sales at IBM and then Salesforce.com. After moving to NYC I practised corporate law and got my first taste at academic legal writing. More recently I was voted in by shareholders to join the board of directors of a publicly traded company. On the board I held various positions on several committees and helped manage the company’s outside legal counsel. Finally, just before Covid hit, I volunteered at a piano workshop for a month so I could learn to assemble pianos. I was even offered a job in the workshop! (and this is my shortened list of jobs I’ve worked). There is never a job too low or beneath me. Yesterday’s meeting reminded me of that immigrant spirit, the hard work and resilience. Despite years of practise in his home country as a well paid attorney, he was happy and immensely grateful to be working any job. And he did it with a huge smile on his face.
It is not by chance that I made a career out of helping internationally trained lawyers achieve their goals in Canada. These are not just lawyers, they are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and entire families behind each of these individuals. They all have a story and I see their success as my own. I could not be more happy and passionate about the company we have built.
Liran
Liran Kandin is the Executive Director at NCA Tutor™