Michael Piok

• Current city of residence: Ottawa, Ontario

• Year arrived in Canada: 2011

• School(s): University of Toronto, Carleton University, University of Ottawa

• Academic program: BSc, BA, MA, LLM, JD

• Occupation: Legal Research, Faculty of Law, uOttawa.

1.     What inspired you to pursue your studies in law of all the academic programs that were available to you? 

I do not know how to preface this properly. Like many of us, we started with a suitcase of interests. I pursued Trade and Investment law  because I was generally interested in the philosophy of ideas (Whether in science or humanities and the ones in between) and how they arrange the human condition.

But also, at some level of analysis, it’s something that came my way through some complex chains of pre-arrangements.

2.     Do you have any advice to new students joining post-secondary institutions on choosing academic programs and careers for success after school?

Be a nerd first. We do not have a roadmap and a good script for navigating and succeeding through academia. Our parents were not walking up and down the living room speaking in jargon like “chirality” or “sui generis.”

If I were to start over to pursue a law degree, I would close the conceptual deficit quicker by resigning myself to the condition of the nerd. Be a nerd for four years, you will definitely appreciate it after the fact.

3.     What challenges do you think hinder new students from succeeding in Canada?

A long while ago, I met an old Italian man 86 years of age here in Canada. We started chatting about our backgrounds and along the conversation, he told me one day he will return home to Sicily. Has he been here physically but psychologically in Sicily? Is that a feature or a bug? Does it cause indecision or impasse in the mind? Will it do a number on you?

4.     How can new students cope with loneliness and feeling out of place when they first arrive in Canada?

I would have just to say, waddle your way outside into the snow and start playing. Skate or do something. This is going to be our environment for a long time. When I came, I liked snow for about two weeks. After one month, I feigned absolute innocence and asked one of the ladies I was working with at admissions office, “Does this happen here like this every year?”

5.     Do you have a mentor? If so, how have they helped you in your academic or professional career?

There are a handful of people I admire from a far; what they did, how they did it etcetera. But that is path-dependent.

6.     From your experience so far, what does it take to succeed in Canada? (Measuring success in academic and professional terms). 

If I have a small business and I make intellectual contributions in the little niche I’m in, I would share my process. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

7.     Is your racial profile helping or hindering your professional growth? That is, if race is a factor at all.

This society has its stewards, and we are new admittees. You may stand pre-judged as not able mostly in academia but when the rubber hit the road…the shoe might change feet. Obviously, it’s a psychological bug when you know the other person maybe harboring presentiments about you or your kind.

8.     Do you have any ideas on how new students can manage expectations from friends and family back home?

It is better to pre-empt your cousin with $50 dollar m-pesa deposit when they have not asked you than to wait for them to call you and conjure up one of the worst afflictions a person can get and force your hand for a value ten times that figure or more.

9. Seeing how credit scores are important in Canada, do you have any tips on managing money or building a strong credit profile?

I think about my credit card like a debit card that I must make payments into each fortnight. It has helped me.