Early Morning in the Radio Station

I’m a first-year having my first experience in college radio! As a prospie, the one student extracurricular I absolutely knew I wanted to pursue was working at the radio station. It was my dream. When I got to Oberlin this fall, I meticulously crafted my radio application, a show on movie/tv soundtracking (something I am very passionate about), which luckily was accepted! My show is 5-6am Monday mornings, and here is what a morning doing my radio show is like!

4:28 am – Four twenty-eight. In. The. Morning. Is when my first alarm goes off. It’s terrifying, to say the least. I have to put my phone on full volume the night before my radio show because I’m scared that if I don’t have it blasting full volume, I’ll sleep through my alarm and just miss the show. Basically, I make it so the fear & adrenaline roused by the Apple-composed “Waves” alarm sends a shockwave through my system and causes me to leap out of bed. Honestly, my sincerest apologies to my roommate. 

4:34 am – Just in case, I have another alarm set for 4:34. When this one goes off, I know I have to get up. I stumble around my room in the darkness, reaching for the sweatshirt and sweatpants I laid out for myself. I grab my mason jar of coffee that I made the night before, and the container of overnight oats I got from DeCafé. Overnight oats and coffee = life-changing snacks for during my radio show. 

4:45 am – I leave my dorm. Now that it’s winter I shiver on over across campus to Wilder, our Student Union and home of WOBC. When I get there, I text the person with the show before me to come let me into the building.

4:58 am – I boot up my computer, plug it in, and get ready to rock.

5:00 am – I am on the air! “You’re listening to WOBC Oberlin 91.5 FM Oberlin College and community radio. I’m your host, DJ Hooligan, and you’re listening to my show ‘Drive-In Movie,’ a show focused on great movie and television soundtracks! This week, we’ll be listening to…”

5:10 am – I eat my overnight oats as I jam to whatever music I am playing that week!

5:28 am – I come close to falling asleep in the comfortable office chair that I sit in to do my show.

5:33 am – I read a PSA, talk about what I’m playing. Share other ruminations. Hum to the music and maybe accidentally leave my mic on as I hum along.

5:37 am – I wonder if there’s anyone listening to my show. A random truck driver? Radio-enthused early bird college student? A friend from home in a different time zone? A prospie?

5:43 am – I have a solo dance party in the station. 

5:55 am – The host of the next show is downstairs, I go to let him in! He sets up and I get ready to transfer over power of the station. I turn on my final song and start packing up.

6:00 am – Drive-In Movie is over and it’s time for Toaster Time! I walk back to my dorm.

6:10 am – I creep back into my dorm room and am back in bed in a flash. I make sure my 8:40 am alarm is set loudly so I wake up for my 9 am class!

My radio show is one of the highlights of my week. It’s an incredible experience, sitting in the station at 5 in the morning, listening to music that I curated and love. From all the radio DJs at WOBC, I’d highly recommend checking out the radio schedule and finding a show to tune in to! And if you’re ever up at 5 am on a Monday, tune in to Drive-In Movie.