Kaytlyn Duchnowski was a driven student in high school but struggled with motivation in college. She began drinking and partying which affected her schoolwork, leading her to take a break from her studies. During this time, Kaytlyn was pulled over for a DUI. She realized she was hanging around unmotivated people and not living up to her dreams. With support from her family, Kaytlyn returned to college after a year and completed her degrees in Entrepreneurial Business and Communications, drawing strength from her grandfather's story of surviving the Holocaust.

1. Profile Story
Kaytlyn Duchnowski is from Rancho Cucamonga, fell in love with dance, art, English
and even became her school’s assistant band director.
“I had so much drive throughout my life, and then all my drive left me,” said
Duchnowski.
After high school she moved to Boise, Idaho, where she had family, she attended Boise
State University, in order to conquer her dream of becoming a college graduate. Kaytlyn, a
double major, was seeking degrees in both Entrepreneurial Business and Communications. She
was well on her way to accomplishing her goal until things hit a wall. Kaytlyn started to drink
and party, eventually affecting her school work.
During Kaytlyn’s junior year she forced herself to take a break from college.
“I wanted to focus on me. I did not want any other stresses besides work,” said
Duchnowski.
Kaytlyn was struggling with declining grades, motivation, and will. The once highly
driven young girl was facing a challenge she had never faced before, a lack of motivation, so she
took a step back from her dream of being a college graduate.
The decision to take time to evaluate herself was one that her mother, Karen, also agreed
was necessary.
“She needed to figure out what she wanted to do,” Karen said.
Leaving school would not be such an easy journey for Kaytlyn. During that summer,
Kaytlyn was pulled over for a DUI.
“I started laughing at how stupid and idiotic it was. Then I was scared. I knew I was
going to get a DUI before they even got out of the car,” Duchnowski said.

2. Kaytlyn was headed down a path of no return, and was losing focus on her dream.
“Kaytlyn was pretty depressed. She had no direction and leaned on alcohol,” said James
Mwanchi, a friend of Kaytlyn’s.
It wasn’t until Kaytlyn arrived home after a long day of work, to her roommates partying,
that she experienced a reality check; “Hanging out with 30 year olds that didn't have their shit
together. I couldn't be what I wanted if I was hanging out with these people,” said Duchnowski.
Sitting there that night made Kaytlyn reflect on her life. “I didn't want to be influenced by
them, and when you are around people they influence you,” said Duchnowski.
Kaytlyn didn’t like where her life was headed and decided to make a change. She was
going to re-enroll in school and get her dream back on track.
“My parents didn't think I was going to go back. That frustrated me because they didn't
believe I was going back, but they were happy when I did. They could see I grew up and my
decision making got better” said Kaytlyn.
With the help of her family and the inspiration of her grandfather, after a full year away
from school, Kaytlyn returned to BSU to finish her degree.
Kaytlyn grandpa, a holocaust survivor, helped her gain the strength she needed to press
on.
“I realized my problems were a lot smaller than some of the stuff he went through, and if
he could do it then I could. He used to tell me be strong and you can conquer anything” said
Duchnowski.
By: Cody Sullivan

3. Comments: I think as you work to find a new lead/hook, that this will become a more
compelling read. Right now it has a lot of history about what happened, but needs some more
detail and description about those day-to-day moments that really crystallized for her her need to
do something different. Please be sure to break this up into shorter paragraphs, just like you
would a traditional news story (about 1-2 sentences per paragraph, max, with new paragraphs
when you start a quote). This will really help with the flow and with “pulling” the readers eyes
down into the next part of the story.
Final coments: Nice job on the revisions. Watch that punctuation and attribution format--
-we talked about this many times! Great quotes--you really let Kaytlyn’s voice shine throughout,
which is exactly what a profile should do. Review my extra comments and take them into
account as you embark on your second story, and then you can also reference them as you revisit
this story for our final portfolio.
Sources
Karen Duchnowski (909-641-6148)
James Mwanchi (205-218-4356)
Kaytlyn Duchnowski (Mom) (909-740-4436)