Camosun College alumna Jenessa Joy Klukas, who completed the University Transfer program in 2018, has always had a passion for writing, but never anticipated the path that she would take to reach her current role. Looking back, it seems that every seemingly small decision has helped guide her to her writing position with IndigiNews.
“Writing was a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” says Klukas. “It was something I really enjoyed and it was something I did to help me process, and it just slowly started to morph into more the older I got. I don’t think there was ever a time; it just happened.”
Klukas began her studies at Camosun with interest in music and writing programs.
“I started out with the writing courses because I needed to transfer over my theory classes with the Victoria Conservatory, and I was in the process of figuring that out,” she says. “And so I just did writing, and then I never stopped.”
After Camosun, Klukas transferred to UVic to complete her writing degree. Her initial goal was to specialize in fiction, but upon discovering that all of the fiction workshops were full, she settled on creative nonfiction and screenplay writing. However, Klukas says she still wasn’t really considering going into journalism at that point.
“I thought that screenwriting might be my end goal, but I didn’t really know what that looked like,” she says. “I thought maybe I’d work for a year and then go back to grad school for screenwriting before I had really even considered journalism. There was definitely a level of uncertainty in any field of writing, and journalism is very competitive.”
It was during this time that one of her professors at UVic recommended that Klukas submit one of her pieces to The Tyee, an independent Canadian news website. She did, and before long she had secured a fellowship with them—her first experience with professional journalism.
“I never did anything like Nexus, or the Martlet. So that really was my first jump in, at The Tyee. I loved it,” she says. “I was really happy and excited to be there.”
During the interview process with The Tyee, Jenessa expressed her desire to cover child education and welfare in her writing. Her passion for these subjects developed throughout her 11 years working in childcare, which she did before and during her studies.
“I was in childcare for that long because I genuinely loved it. But I ultimately felt like it wasn’t where I was meant to be long term,” says Klukas. “I’m really glad that I get to be a voice for education in a different way, and support education and childcare and child welfare in other ways.”
Kari Jones, who fondly recalls teaching Klukas composition and creative writing courses at Camosun, says that her passion for child welfare was just as apparent back then.
“That definitely seemed like something that she was interested in,” says Jones. “Not in her writing per se, but in just who she was as a person.”
After her fellowship with The Tyee, Klukas landed a job with IndigiNews, an Indigenous-led news platform with offices on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan, where she works now.
“I really like the work environment at IndigiNews,” says Klukas. “We have a lot of Indigenous ways of being and Indigenous culture in the way we have the workplace running, and that makes me really happy. It’s a really powerful space and it feels like a very safe space to be in. It’s just great to always feel heard and welcomed as an Indigenous person.”
In her role at IndigiNews, Klukas specializes in child education and welfare. After her time working in childcare, and completing a degree in writing, Klukas feels like she’s found her voice in journalism and is grateful to be able to address what she’s passionate about.
“I think initially I never really considered journalism because I didn’t know where my voice would fit,” says Klukas. “In this case, what I write really is in covering education, child welfare, childcare, and the foster-care system, and that means a lot to me. Those are the topics I’m really passionate about and I’m so glad that I get to cover them and that I get a way to tell other people’s stories in these spaces.”