On a busy afternoon in the Lillis Business School Café, I walk in and immediately focus in on the happy, smiling young woman sitting at a corner table fiercely typing away on the bright neon blue MacBook sitting in front of her. As I approach her, she looks up still smiling and greets me with a friendly wave.
This sweetly smiling young woman is Neethu Ramchandar. Ramchandar is a senior in the School of Journalism and Communication, pursuing her bachelors degree in journalism with a focus in magazine writing and advertising, and has a minor in anthropology. A bubbly, happy, and driven young woman during our conversation, I was amazed to learn more about Ramchandar and her adventurous life full of stories, culture, and exactly how she ended up at UO pursuing a career in journalism.
Born in Austin, Texas, Ramchandar moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico a short 27 days after making her mark on the world. From Albuquerque, Ramchandar and her family moved to Beaverton, Oregon when she was 15. She graduated from Westview High School, and shortly after made her way to Eugene to attend UO.
Ramchandar’s roots as a journalist started very early in her life and have taken her on quite the journey. In her early years she struggled with writing; “I was a terrible writer,” she says with a laugh. “Then in seventh grade I wrote a story for a K-12 writing competition and I won! That was the moment that I decided I could and wanted to tell stories.” Ramchandar connected storytelling to her family. She recalled spending her childhood listening to her dad and grandfather tell stories during family time, and how they have the amazing ability to capture audiences as soon as they begin to speak.
As she got older Ramchandar continued to pursue perfecting her storytelling skills, all pieces of work that lead her to studying journalism. She was the editor of her high school newspaper, The Prowl, and in her senior year she started the school’s first literary magazine, Wink.
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Although Ramchandar credits her family as being very supportive of her writing while she was in high school, she said when it came to convincing them that journalism was a good career to pursue in college it took a little time. “My mom wanted me to be a doctor, engineer or psychologist, states Ramchandar. Ramchandar is a woman of South Indian heritage. Her family originates from a village in South India named Chennai. Growing up in a household where Indian religion and customs were heavily practiced, Ramchandar credited her parent’s reserves about her career choice to cultural differences. “In India you are supposed to pursue a career that can support your family.”
Not letting her parents reserves or anything else stop her and confident in her abilities to tell stories as a career, Ramchandar continued to write and pursue journalism. Upon her entrance to UO in 2008, Ramchandar joined the staff of the UO’s award-winning publication, Ethos. In the spring of 2009 she wrote a personal narrative titled, “Living the Life of a Minority.” Published in Ethos, the story landed her the prestigious Columbia Scholastic Press Award. In addition to winning the honorable award, that was the day she also gained her family’s full support to pursue writing and journalism.
In addition to magazine writing, Ramchandar also has a focus in advertising. She says advertising has not been a lifelong passion, compared to writing and storytelling, but it gives her a challenge. “I have a natural instinct to tell stories. If I can tell a story through an advertisement, then great!” says Ramchandar with a smile.
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Growing up thoroughly enriched in her own culture, and inspired by her life living in many different multi-cultural environments, Ramchandar took up her anthropology minor to broaden her knowledge of other cultures, and it has guided her to some amazing places. Fearless and ready for adventure, she has braved two internships abroad, one in India and most recently in the summer of 2011, in Ghana. In India she had the opportunity to work at the Times of India newspaper as a writer. In Ghana, she interned at APEX, a Ghana-based advertising agency and production house where she was a creative intern. Along with being able to see the world and experience different cultures, Ramchandar expressed her feelings on how studying abroad is a great professional learning tool for all students. “If you can do and master your craft in an uncomfortable environment, like in a foreign country, you can do it anywhere.” In great storytelling fashion, Ramchandar described her amazing experiences working in Ghana. From the kind people, down to the details of a 39-hour workday that she braved which included the experience of walking the busy streets of Ghana alone to buy a live chicken at the request of her creative director.
Currently Ramchandar is maintaining a busy schedule as she finishes her last term of school. She is always creating, and working on projects to develop and master her many skills and add to her portfolio of work. She maintains her part-time job at UO’s Mill’s International Center as the office manager and public relations director, positions that she has held for the past two and a half years. She continues to write stories for Ethos as well as freelance for the Oregon Daily Emerald Newspaper, Sirens Magazine and Flux Magazine, which she joined her junior year. She is doing media planning on an account retained by the journalism schools advertising agency, Allen Hall Advertising, and she will be braving The Big Apple, New York City, next month for the journalism schools annual trip which allows journalism students the opportunity to show off their portfolios of work to advertising agencies in hopes of scoring future jobs.
An amazing storyteller, writer and cultural enthusiast, Ramchandar will walk the commencement stage with fellow graduating students in the 2012 School of Journalism and Communication class in mid-June. When asked what her best piece of advice for success is, Ramchandar confidently replied, “Develop your morals, principles, and guiding rules of life and don’t let anyone change them. Loyalty, family, persistence and being kind to one another; stick to these and be successful.”
To learn more about Neethu Ramchandar and view some of her amazing writing pieces, check out her portfolio!