Lilia Hessabi is a junior studying political science and law in the Dual BA program between Columbia University and Sciences Po Paris. As a multilingual Iranian-Canadian, she draws on her upbringing alongside her legal and political education to work toward the normalization of Middle Eastern-Western relations, with a focus on international security and socioeconomic mobility. Her experience leading international legal competition teams across Europe and organizing diplomatic conferences has deepened her understanding of how law and politics operate across borders and institutions. At Columbia, she works as a Research Assistant at Columbia Law School’s Criminal Defence Clinic, where she examines how restorative justice principles and reparative market models can be meaningfully applied in practice, both domestically and within broader frameworks of transitional justice. She also interns at the New York Supreme Court, serves on the board of the Columbia Pre-Law Society, and advises the European Law Moot Court team at Columbia Law School, laying the foundation for her prospective legal career.