When I took the FM Broadcasting class in Winter 2013, I was initially under the impresion that it was about learning the workings of what went into radio – the mechanics, the equipment, and so forth. As an Ackerman kid whose time spent waiting for the third-to-last bus was sitting on the lawn just outside Pierce Library, I knew of the station, but for twenty years had never set foot inside; now, taking the class to fill my full-time credit requirement for financial aid, I was thrown head-first into the expectation that I would be putting together my own radio show, with no clue what I was doing. I have a hard time talking with people to begin with, and to suddenly be told that I’d be brought in to broadcast was a fair shock. As well, my music is, at best… eclectic: when Rocky went around the room the first night of classes asking what genres everyone liked, through a sea of “Rock and Country” and “I like all kinds of music” I was the one who replied “Eurobeat, New Wave, Chiptune,” completely omitting that the vast majority of it all is game soundtrack and remix. Who listens to that.

The fourth week of the term, I shied into the station office and informed Rocky of my intent to withdraw from the course, believing that I had absolutely no reason to bring my presence on air. He convinced me that I at least try to tough it out, if for no reason than to have something to show for the course fee I spent, and as a point of order all but bodily pushed me into the studio where DJ Who was in the middle of a show. Some basic attempts at getting me to open up were made, and I was pushed into reading an on-air PSA. While I’m an awkward, asocial nerd who has trouble not cracking under the pressure of normal company at best, I still enjoy performing the occasional dramatic reading for kicks, and brought this out upon my read.

Everyone was completely floored. This was the first time I had actually been on air, and people were left wondering where the hell I had been all this time. In three days I was to be partnered with Suspension for my mentoring. I can’t remember what exactly I brought with me then, whether it was my laptop entirely or just my phone, loaded up with FINAL FANTASY XI CHIPS and the Dustforce soundtrack. I do remember breaking the “no more than four songs per artist” rule, on my first night (nobody cared, or seemed to notice). My first month of solo shows were wracked with the constant dread that I would screw something up – leaving out the station ID, some sort of catastrophic breakdown, misremembering how the players worked.

At the end of the month, I will be starting my third year of running Rainbow Ride. The show is the highlight of my week.

The thought of going on air for the first time is absolutely terrifying. Do it anyway.