When Catherine Porter graduated from North Toronto Collegiate in 1991, she envisioned her life taking one of two paths:

“I wanted to be Allan Fotheringham,” she jokes. “Either that or prime minister.”

The National Newspaper Award winner idolized Fotheringham, a former Maclean’s  columnist, because of his influential writing. “He was probably the most powerful columnist in the country,” she remembers.

Inspired by Fotheringham, Porter became a columnist with the Toronto Star, covering issues that include social justice and women’s rights. Porter made a name for herself a few years ago reporting on the hardships impoverished people face in post-earthquake Haiti, something she still does to this day. She’s even funding the education of a Haitian child named “Lovely Avelus,” who managed to survive six days trapped under rubble.

Porter’s journalism career started in high school. She wrote editorials and covered sports for the RAG, North Toronto Collegiate’s student paper (named for the school’s red and grey colours).

From there, she applied to “every paper across the country,” and ended up at the Vancouver Sun, where she worked for two years.

“For me, [journalism] is the most powerful way to be an activist, instead of protesting on the street, which I tried for quite some time,” she says. 

For Porter, access to a student newspaper and the personal attention of teachers had a big effect on her experience at North Toronto Collegiate.

“I loved my time there. It felt like a small school even though there was a big population.”

Porter was pleased with the attention she recieved, and saw her teachers as positive role models.

“When you’re 12, 14, 15, 16 … if you have an adult who respects you and treats you like what you say is important and listens to you, it has a really profound impact on your confidence and your sense of self.”

The most lasting memory Porter has of the school isn’t her teachers or even her writing. It’s losing the student president election by only a few votes.

Devastating at the time, the loss turned out to be a positive event.

“I think of myself as a very compassionate person, and I use my empathy quite a bit in my writing. Losing something like that taught me humility.”