An international route to the suburbs

Daily Herald report

Elena Ferrarin took quite the circuitous route to end up a as a senior staff writer for the Daily Herald.

She was born in Italy and lived in Russia, Yugoslavia and Spain before graduating from high school in Rome, Italy.

She got an undergraduate degree from Brown University, worked with foster kids and victims of domestic violence in New Mexico, and then, in a moment of inspiration, decided a career in journalism sounded like just the right thing. It was.

She earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and worked for two suburban newspapers before joining the ranks of the Daily Herald, where she covers all things Elgin.

The best part of the job? Writing about a broad range of interesting topics, she says, from the state of city finances to the daily lives of homeless people. She feels lucky to do stimulating work alongside smart and dedicated journalists who share her commitment to making a difference in the world.

She is fluent in Spanish and Italian and had a chance to use both languages in her suburban reporting. She became a U. S. citizen last year but still messes up the occasional American saying.