Meet KPU: Abby Luciano

Abby Luciano is a Kwantlen Polytechnic University alumna, having graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in history.

Luciano became connected to The Runner, the school’s student newspaper, in 2021 when she joined as a contributor. She went on to serve as the paper’s community reporter and managing editor before taking on the top position of editor-in-chief from April 2023 to May 2024. Her studies at KPU also led her to pursue the ARTS 4800 Practicum course, where she was placed and published articles for The Tyee.

Upon graduation, Luciano took part in a CBC/Radio-Canada summer internship program in Vancouver, working as a news researcher and later becoming an associate producer. Luciano now works as a Local Journalism Initiative reporter for Lodestar Media’s North Shore News.

The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

When did you join the KPU community and why?

I feel like my story is a little interesting. I joined KPU in September 2019 and I really liked it because of the small class sizes, and the journalism program seemed great.

I graduated high school in 2018 and I decided to take a gap year because I was very tired of the routine and I wasn’t ready at that point in my life to make that big decision on going to post-secondary. So in the meantime, I worked at McDonald’s full time and saved up money for school while I was making that decision.

As time went on, I applied to five schools — four were in Ontario and one was in B.C. I grew up in Saint Catharines, Ont. The only one I applied to in B.C. was KPU, and I got accepted in January 2019. I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited.

I applied to KPU because of the journalism program. Once I got that acceptance letter, I had to make this huge decision — do I stay in Ontario and go to a school nearby or do I pack up and move across the country?

Before making any final decision, I had the opportunity to fly out and come check out KPU. That was the first time I went to B.C. on my own. I booked a KPU tour at the Surrey campus. Someone guided me through, showing me different classrooms, the journalism program, even The Runner office at the time. I loved the atmosphere and just knew right then that was my decision — I’m going to come to KPU. 

I joined The Runner in January 2021. I wanted to have a New Year’s resolution for myself, essentially being a second-year journalism student, I should join The Runner. I started off as a contributor, doing all sorts of different stories, opinions, features, just trying to branch out and really get those skills.

Time went on, and I applied for the community reporter position that opened in the summer and I started in August 2021. A year later, I was the managing editor and then I was elected editor-in-chief in April 2023 until I left KPU in May 2024.

What’s your favourite story or memory from your time at KPU? 

I was at KPU for five years. I did a major in journalism, but I also did a minor in history. I took a history class near the beginning of my degree with Kyle Jackson, who’s a history professor. He’s just so interactive in classes. There was one class I took with him where every week, he would do something different. One week, he would bring in a guitar and make up a song, another week he brought in traditional soy sauce all the way from Japan for us to try.

Honestly, it sparked me wanting to continue that history minor and keep taking classes with him but also with other history instructors. It was a different way of teaching that I never really saw before and it just really stuck with me.

There was another class I took of his during the early days of the pandemic, and all the classes were online. It can be hard to teach and keep it interesting over the computer, but he managed to do it well.

It was a course about ancient civilizations and going through the different ones. He made a song about pigs and it really stuck with me because it was very catchy. He’s really great at teaching, and there are a lot of great teachers at KPU.

With The Runner specifically, I remember when I first joined, I was pretty shy. I feel like The Runner really helped me come out of my shell. On one occasion, we brought pumpkins in because it was around Halloween and we did a pumpkin carving while listening to music and having a really good time. It just made me feel like I made the right choice in coming here and making new friends and all that because it can be really stressful, especially when you move away, kind of starting over. I just felt like I belonged. 

What is something you’d like to say to people new to the KPU community?

Try new things, whether it be joining a club, joining The Runner, or participating with the Kwantlen Student Association in whatever capacity that may be, such as running for a position or volunteering.

I think it can be hard to have that campus life just because we are a commuter school, so people think it can be hard to socialize with one another. But branch out, try these new things — you never know if you can make new lifelong friends or find something that really interests you.  

Sometimes you don’t know until you try it. You could never think that you’d like something unless you put yourself out there. This is the one time in our life, in university, to try all these different things and really find yourself, so really get yourself out there. 

What are you working on right now? What have you been up to since graduating? 

I felt really lucky after I left The Runner. I did an internship with the CBC in the downtown Vancouver office. It was part of a summer scholarship program, so they hired two recent journalism grads to come work for them for the summer.

You got to explore everything, different forms of storytelling. I did radio for a few weeks, got to go into the T.V. broadcasting side for a few weeks, and then the web team as well.

After trying all these different things, you would be put on an on-call basis, depending on which department you did well in or had the most fun in. That was really fun just because I’ve always wanted to work at the CBC ever since I was a kid. It felt like a dream come true.

During my time, I got to file clips for the radio and have my voice on the radio. I got to do a T.V. pack, which was so surreal. I had so much help, like I couldn’t have done it without them. It’s such a learning experience.

I did a T.V. pack about butterfly sightings plummeting in Metro Vancouver after a recent study released at that time from the University of British Columbia (UBC). I got to interview the researcher and talk about the study. Then, I also interviewed this man who has a whole garden in his backyard in North Vancouver called Butterflyway Lane. I got to go up all the way there and had a camera operator with me, shot some videos, talked to the source. It was so fun. I’ll always remember this story. I was so proud of myself, too, for being aired on the 6:00 pm news.

As the internship ended, I went to an on-call position, more so on the web team, which was really cool. So sometimes I would do breaking news stuff, and it was great.

Since I was on call, I could do work for other companies at the same time. Then, I saw a freelance position open up for North Shore News, which is a community newspaper that serves North Vancouver and West Vancouver. I did a week of freelancing for them and then I got offered a full-time position with them, which I was so ecstatic about. I started that in mid-October and I’ve been there ever since. I’m the Local Journalism Initiative reporter, which is part of a federal program that helps elevate local news. My beat is Indigenous and civic affairs. “Civic” really means almost anything, so that could be council meetings, fires, police, fundraisers, and stuff like that. “Indigenous” is anything with the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, which could be new rental housing coming up or maybe a cultural event, among other stories.

I love the work I’m doing. There’s just something really special about the North Shore community that I don’t think I would have fully noticed if I didn’t work there or talk to those people. I’m talking to the community every day or going to meet them in person — just really involved. I enjoy that and I want to do that for as long as possible. 

What is something you would like people to know about you? 

I can play the ukulele. I haven’t in a while, but I do know how to play it. I learned when I was 16 or so. I also really enjoy music. I love going to concerts and the connection you feel with the artist but also with the people around you. I’ve been going to concerts my whole life, essentially. There’s just really something special in my heart about music.