Lena Kachinski Named ‘Top Student Intern’
By David Hamilton


On one trip to Israel, Lena Kachinski had hoped to be where the action was, working as an emergency medical technician.

As fate would have it, the Willow Springs resident found herself where the action was but not as a helper of the injured. Rather, she found herself as a journalist reporting about the injured, among many other duties.

“I have always wanted to go to Israel, ever since I was in the eighth grade. I originally went to Jerusalem to volunteer as an EMT,” said Kachinski, who journeyed there last October but could not perform the EMT work because of a bureaucratic oversight. Luckily, the College of DuPage student did not find herself stranded and jobless.

“I met an editor for the Christian edition of the Jerusalem Post, and he asked me if I wanted to do an internship at the paper,” Kachinski said. “He had read some of the clips that I had.”

The “clips” that Kachinski was referring to were samples of her news writing. Along with being an EMT, she had also been pursuing studies in journalism at College of DuPage. While currently working as a journalist in Jerusalem, Kachinski is simultaneously working toward her Associate in Arts degree from C.O.D.
Back in October, her studies and internship duties combined enabled her to be named the top two-year student intern by the National Cooperative Education and Internship Association, the second consecutive year that a C.O.D. student was named as the top intern by this association.

“We are proud of the achievements of all our student-interns, and we are especially proud of Lena,” said Jean Spahr, manager of the college’s Cooperative Education and Internship program. This program helps place students in internships in their fields of study, where they gain both work experience in their chosen fields as well as college credit.

“This young lady is studying journalism and stepped ‘outside the box’ to pursue an internship in Israel,” Spahr said. “The national association committee members who read this year’s submissions were very impressed with Lena’s accomplishments and success. I hope that Lena will inspire other College of DuPage students to seek internships because work-integrated learning supports career development, gives students a competitive employment edge and ultimately strengthens the workforce.”

Kachinski’s faculty mentor, journalism professor Cathy Stablein, described her student as simply “dedicated” and “What a model!” Stablein said she was most impressed when Kachinski once told her she was covering a “local meeting.” That local meeting turned out to be a meeting of the Israeli Knesset, the legislative branch of Israel’s government.

Currently back in Jerusalem during spring semester, Kachinski hopes to gain as much journalism experience as possible while also taking online courses at C.O.D. In Israel, Kachinski is actually working for three organizations: Front Page Jerusalem Radio; Word Magazine, a bi-monthly Christian magazine; and Jerusalem Post Christian Edition.

With the Post, Kachinski performs various duties, including writing feature and spot news stories, as well as some editing and layout duties.
She once wrote a feature story about a missionary who granted her an exclusive interview to write about the missionary’s charity work in a church located in Jericho on the West Bank. Being the Christian Edition’s first intern, she has a degree of independence in the assignments that she chooses.

“I have more freedom,” said Kachinski, who plans to attend graduation ceremonies at C.O.D. this June. “So, I can pick stories and pitch story ideas.”

 

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