What do Irish dancing and law have in common? If you’re Valentina, the answer is everything. A former competitive Irish dancer, Valentina credits her dance career and the support of her tight-knit family (owners of the former Burrard Public House) as the reasons she is where she is today—a fresh law graduate on the cusp of making her dream job a reality.

Competitively dancing for 15 years, the sport played a huge part in teaching Valentina invaluable lessons in her life. “Before Irish dancing, I was scared of my own shadow,” she recalls. “[Dance] taught me the importance of resilience, perseverance and goal setting for yourself.” An exercise she practiced as a young dancer set on representing Western Canada on the world stage—a goal Valentina reached not once but several times.

The resilience she learned on the dance stage prepared Valentina years later for law school applications—not letting the rejections deter her. With resilience on her side, she persevered where many would give up. And for Valentina, giving up on law was never an option. Inspired by her grandparents’ own resilience, fleeing from former Yugoslavia with little in their pockets, Valentina took an interest in human rights and civil liberties. “My interest and desire to get into the legal profession comes from the great sense of gratitude that I feel for my grandparents and what they had to go through to build a better life for themselves and their families,” she explains. Full of determination, Valentina earned a degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University and then ventured to the United Kingdom, where she graduated with a law degree, getting one step closer to her dream of being a lawyer.

Her law journey is far from over. It’s just the beginning. Since graduating just over a year ago, Valentina has been busy studying for her exams and is looking forward to an articling position so she can put her knowledge into practice. As for the future, Valentina is leaving that open with only one wish for herself.

“I want to be able to say one day that I’ve never worked a day in my life because I genuinely love what I’m doing so much.”

Though she’s never lived in Port Moody, Valentina grew up in the city thanks to her family’s involvement with the Burrard Public House. It’s a special place that holds many memories for her, including Irish dancing with her sister on St Patrick’s Day. It’s a community she hopes to give back to one day.

“It would be a full circle moment to have a law firm in Port Moody. To give back to the community I grew up in that helped shape me into the person I am today. It would be so fulfilling and rewarding.”