Region Riverina's Shri Gayathirie Rajen on why she loves her job

When Shri Gayathirie Rajen was midway through high school, she decided she was going to be a neonatal surgeon.

“I want to work with babies because tiny humans are fascinating, I thought, that’s it, that’s what I’m going to do,” she recalls.

Upon reaching year 12, Shri made a horrifying discovery.

“I had to do high-level maths and chemistry to get into medicine – that whole idea immediately went out the window.”

The Region Riverina journalist’s first newspaper article came in the form of a history assignment at her western Sydney high school.

“I didn’t know anything about the structure or format. But my teacher came up to me and said, ‘Shri, you’ve got the top marks in class. You’ve written it as if it’s actually from a newspaper’. I was in shock,” she laughs.

“I did it without knowing I had the skills to do it. And that’s when I realised that I could be a journalist.”

Writing has always come naturally to Shri: “I’ll just talk all day long and I’m good at making friends quickly. I think the career fell into place – journalism was something that just worked for me.”

Shri enrolled in the University of New South Wales to study film and, after graduating, went to Macleay College, where she studied journalism.

Her dream was to work at a newspaper, but the thought of working for any publication in Sydney seemed far-fetched.

“My goal was just to have one article published, in an actual newspaper with my byline, but the chances of it happening seemed impossible while I was studying.”

After completing her studies, Shri’s dream led her to Temora, where she began her first journalism job for the Temora Independent and the Lake News.

“That job brought me nothing but joy and happiness,” she remembered. “I had the whole city-to-country experience.”

Born and raised in central Sri Lanka, Shri moved to Australia with her family when she was nine-years-old. She spent her teenage years in western Sydney.

Shri knew Australia was beautiful but as a self-proclaimed ”obnoxious Sydneysider”, she was adamant that nothing could be more beautiful than the state capital’s beaches.

“I moved to Temora and I was blown away. The beautiful sunsets and sunrises were endless. I could see the night sky properly, because for the first time in my life there was no light pollution,” she said.

“I learned there is a beauty beyond the beach.”

After “a great start to journalism” in Temora, health issues forced Shri back to Sydney in 2018, resulting in a subsequent four-year hiatus from the industry.

After recovering, Shri began applying for jobs all over Australia – including a position in the Region Canberra office.

Months went by and, as she was busily working away at home, Shri’s applications were forgotten. Suddenly, she was offered a job in Wagga – a mere 80 kilometres from where she began.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to move back to the country again … but something sort of clicked in me, like a gut feeling, that I should take the job.”

Shri returned to the Riverina with the intention of telling the everyday person’s story, a passion she picked up in Temora when asked to speak at a local community meeting.

“I said to my old editor, ‘Pete, they want me to come and talk about myself. I don’t know why they want me to, what am I going to say?’ He asked me a few questions about myself, I answered, and then he says, ‘That’s your story. Everyone has a story to tell.’ I learned that as I was doing the work, but it turned out I needed someone to rub it in.

“It’s just about asking the right questions.”

Shri is joined in the Wagga office by editor Chris Roe, business team Adam Drummond and Ketura Weston, and journalist Anna Maskus. They’re in Baylis St, upstairs in the old Twin Cinemas building – call in and say hello, or share a Riverina yarn with the team.