Journals

You’re Listening to WHCL 88.7 FM, Broadcasting Live From the Basement of Bristol, Here at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

February 10, 2007   

Hamilton is small. You probably know that. Hamilton is so small that the levels of overlap can get somewhat ridiculous — for example, to pool myself with the other student story writers, nearly all of us are interconnected in some way: Sarah and I both work at the Writing Center, Greg and I are both members of the Media Board, I once rode the Jitney with Victoria during Orientation week (I think she was buying goldfish), Geoffrey and I had a class together last year, and Leighton and I were once in the radio station at the same time, trying to coordinate a live broadcast of a lecture. It’s a little like a giant Venn diagram, and after a while it starts looking like a Spirograph doodle.

One of the largest circles I chase my tail in has to be the radio station, and yes, this entry does serve as publicity for it. If you’re in the area, tune in to 88.7 FM any day of the week, for the best in college radio. If you’re the rest of the world, we also stream our broadcast online at whcl.org. If you’re especially interested in stalking me, try Fridays from noon to two p.m., when my own show, Fervently Eclectic, takes to the airwaves (but be warned, I am a very awkward DJ and have dorky playlists — two weeks ago, I had a birthday-themed show, because it happened to be the day after my twentieth.)

I’ve always loved the radio; my Oldsmobile at home has no other source of music, and I think that’s why I was so excited to become a radio DJ, not to mention the hours I spent as a child in my room with a microphone and a tape-deck, pretending I was a one-girl news crew. I still get a rush when I go down to the station, located next to the bookstore in Bristol, and the giant, blue and pink neon WHCL sign is lit up and buzzing. I’m down there every few days, at least, because this semester, I happen to be General Manager of WHCL, and I am as proud as I am intimidated by the position. I run meetings every Monday with the e-board, send out all-campus emails, and had to face a whole room full of people when we were just getting started (there’s the Prospective DJ meeting, the Accepted DJ meeting, the pre-Accepted DJ meeting for the e-board, and on and on). More importantly, the radio is on the air, regardless of my involvement. My predecessor, the current Assistant General Manager, wrote on her e-board application that she was applying because she “couldn’t get enough of this stuff.” The same goes for me — technically, the radio is an extra-curricular, but I’d major in it if I could.