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Meena Thiruvengadam


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Raised and schooled right here in Texas, San Antonio Express-News business reporter Meena Thiruvengadam is an actual Texan.

San Antonio Express-News business writer and University of Texas San Antonio alumna, Meena Thiruvengadam, has done internships in Utah and Wisconsin, where she learned to create a feeling of home "regardless of where you are."

Please briefly describe your journalism background and your education.
I got started in this business by accident. I began college hoping to pursue a career in medical or pharmaceutical research, but an ad in the college paper seeking writers for the college paper intrigued me. I began writing for the publication and eventually realized that telling stories was where my true passion lies. I completed a communication bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2004. After internships covering metro news for the Salt Lake Tribune and general assignments for The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis., I began writing for the San Antonio Express-News in 2004. I spent three months as an intern on the business desk and seven months as a night police reporter before joining the business desk where I now cover Clear Channel Communications, international business and general assignments.

What brought you to Texas and kept you here?
An Air Force assignment my dad received in the 1980s brought me to Texas. Opportunity has kept me here.

What do you like about living in San Antonio? What do you not like?
San Antonio is a very relaxed, laid-back and comfortable place. It's livable and friendly -- two of my favorite things about the area. But, for as diverse a place as San Antonio is lauded to be, it really isn't. Public transportation options are lacking. San Antonio is a place I can appreciate for what it is.

Some Asian Americans have said they feel somewhat unwelcome in San Antonio or in Texas. Is that fair or unfair?
For the most part I've felt welcome in [predominantly Latino] San Antonio, although I've been yelled at several times for not knowing my "Latina heritage." Several Indian sources have told me they prefer living in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas as opposed to elsewhere in the U.S. because it is where they feel most welcome and most at home.

Throughout Texas, Asian Americans are relatively few in number, including in San Antonio. What do you do and what do you think members who are new to Texas should do to "feel more at home" in their newsrooms and in Texas?
Become comfortable with being a minority even among minorities. Home is a feeling you can create for yourself regardless of where you are. During my internships in Utah and Wisconsin, I was able to develop social networks and a life that made me feel at home despite my distance from home and the oddities of my new locales.

What can the Texas chapter do to better serve the needs of its members -- who are few in number and spread throughout this large state?
I'd like to have the option of viewing Web casts of chapter meetings if I am unable to attend because they are not in my area. Web training could also provide an efficient and wide-reaching way to benefit members by providing career development opportunities.

Is there something else about yourself that you'd like us to know?
I don't believe that journalism is dead. No matter how the medium evolves, when it comes down to it journalists are story tellers. Whether through the printed word, video, the Internet or radio, I believe there will always be a place in this world for good stories and journalists who tell them.

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