During my freshman year, I was introduced to Doug Westerman who taught my orientation class and works as the radio station’s general manager. And from almost the first minute of knowing him, he told me my name—Hannah Hippensteel—was built for the radio…. 89.5 KQAL, our campus station, to be exact. And for the next four years, he would tell me this with increased intensity.
I usually laughed or brushed it off, claiming to be too busy. That is, until I needed a 1-credit class to complete the credits needed for graduation. That is when I was left with no option: I would finally be on the radio with my name that it was clearly built for, according to Doug.
In this class, we were tasked with doing 10 on-air shifts for KQAL. As April 18 is International Amateur Radio Day, I wanted to reflect on the fun I’ve had with this class.
First of all, I am incredibly glad my classmate and friend Paige had the same availability as me. Instead of doing two individual shows a week, we joined forces and had our ‘Wake Up Winona’ slot on Wednesday mornings from 7 to 9 a.m.
Sure, this means I’m up at 6 a.m. once a week, but I absolutely came to anticipate it each week.
Each week, Paige and I plan out talking segments—four each show, to be exact. Below, I listed some of the favorite topics we’ve had.
Feb 3 show—If you had your own personal Punxsutawney Phil, what do you wish it could tell you?
Feb 10 show—Florida Man / Woman challenge where you Google your birthday and Florida to see wacky headlines… Mine was “Florida Woman Pulls Alligator Out of Pants During Traffic Stop”
Feb 24 show—discussion of our favorite Gilmore Girls boyfriends… Jess, for the win
March 3 show—historical women trivia for International Women’s Month
March 10 show—Spotify account for cooking Barilla pasta
March 17 show—One Hit Wonders or Blunders bracket for March Madness… naturally, I chose “Come on Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners
March 24 show—let’s get quizzical with Buzzfeed
March 31 show—season of silly spring jokes
April 7 show—Tune Talk… what would make a better graduation song than “Pomp and Circumstance?”
As much as it pained me to admit Doug was right (all in good fun), I think I came into my own on air. I knew I liked talking about myself, but it was more than that. I found a lot of entertainment in shooting the breeze with Paige amid some terrific tunes.
It also connected me to people I don’t see as often as I’d like when they could tune in. It’s a pretty neat feeling to do a shout-out live on air, I can’t lie.
I’m glad I gave the radio and myself a chance because I was able to make some cool (air)waves on KQAL. I’ll miss it.