From Toronto, Ont., Olivia Nitti is graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism. During her degree, she and classmate Tedi Buffet took on a story about the government, community and environmental complications of building a whale sanctuary on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. The story is a finalist for the Student Journalist Award at the 2026 Atlantic Journalism Awards. Now, Olivia is reporting for allNovaScotia and looking forward to what her future holds.
Was there a course, professor, reading requirement or experience that has had a lasting impact on you?
During my one year at King’s, I was lucky enough to learn under a group of utterly brilliant professors, all of whom were women. Their commitment to journalism and their students was immediately contagious, which made it easy to really throw myself at the work.
I also had the opportunity to embark on a four-month reporting project with my peer, Tedi. We produced a piece called Finding Sanctuary, which is nominated for an Atlantic Journalism Award this year. The experience challenged me in all the best ways. I am certain I will carry the lessons learned from this project and from Lyndsie Bourgon, our advising professor, with me wherever I go.
Thinking back to who you were when you received your acceptance letter, what would you tell her?
When I received my acceptance letter, around this time last year, I remember feeling so relieved that I could finally say I had a next step. It’s probably an experience shared by many in my generation, but being home post-undergrad, working at a bar and a bookstore, always being asked what I planned to do with my literature degree—it gets old.
If I could speak to who I was then, I would tell her to have a little bit more trust in the process and in herself. It isn’t an easy thing to do. I’d sooner blame myself for bumps in the road without realizing they are taking me closer to where I’m going.
What journalism has taught me is that process matters, and the destination—that final draft—often doesn’t reveal itself until the very end. That’s what I love about reporting: it’s an exercise in trusting your gut and coming out with the feeling that you knew what you were doing without knowing it is second to none.
Where do you hope your degree takes you next?
I hope to continue growing into myself and my writing voice. I don’t know for certain what’s next for me. I have a full-time job as a journalist, which is beyond what I could have expected before coming here, and I’m really grateful for where I am right now. I know there will be challenges ahead, but I have had the best leaders forge the pathways I now follow.
