College of the North Atlantic (CNA) Journalism student, Flavio Sachett Nienow, was presented with his award from the 32
nd Atlantic Journalism Awards yesterday during a reception at Government House in St. John’s.
Each year Nalcor awards $500 to a student as part of the Atlantic Journalism Awards. The prize rewards initiative, maturity, creativity, and professionalism in either course work or independent writing.
Flavio, an international student from Brazil, was nominated for the award by his Journalism instructors at CNA.
“Flavio has demonstrated exceptional commitment to continually improving his reporting and writing,” the instructors cited in the application. “He has been a role model for the other students in his dependability, strong work ethic and cordial approach to teamwork. He lifts the morale of the entire class with his positive attitude. At the same time, Flavio takes both the craft and calling of journalism seriously.”
Flavio didn’t know he had been nominated until he found out he had been named the award recipient.
“I just feel so grateful that my hard work and passion was recognized, and that Canada has so many awards to encourage people to do their best,” Flavio said of his win.
“I´ve always wanted to be a journalist. When I was a kid I had a weekly newspaper in my house. I used to interview my uncles and cousins and write stories about our family. I tried studying journalism in Brazil, but I thought it was too theoretical and I wasn´t getting any skills and it would have taken four years to finish that degree, so I took a degree in international business instead.”
He says he never intended to work with international business but used it as a stepping stone to pursue journalism in Canada.
“The fact that I love the English language and that I like the Canadian/American lifestyle really pushed me towards it,” he said “I also feel like being in Canada there are more opportunities to make a difference. There are so many organizations here to help people and I feel empowered here. If change is going to come from somewhere, it´s going to come from countries like Canada.”
Flavio is currently in St. John´s for a work-term placement at The Telegram. After receiving his journalism diploma he hopes to find work within Newfoundland and Labrador in print media.
“I´m incredibly grateful for all the support I got from the college staff, students and the community in Stephenville as an international student. It really helped me and I´ll have the best memories of my life from there!”
Flavio plans to put the money from the award towards the cost of a new digital camera.
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Media Contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca