The Last Song – A Senior’s Reflection on 4 Years of WVUD
Gretchen Hartenstein | May 15, 2025
When I started back in 2021, I truly never planned on being as involved with WVUD as I became. I know that’s cliché to say, but to me, it just shows that the most unexpected things happen for the right reasons.
I wanted to go to a school with a college radio station. My dad was a DJ during his four years at Gettysburg College, and for whatever reason, I just thought “That seems like a cool thing to do. Maybe I’ll try that.” So, after much searching, I found the WVUD table at my very first involvement fair and was greeted by the friendly faces of Caitlin and Ilene, the general manager and music director at the time. And boom, I was on the email list. I planned for my involvement in radio to be exclusively a side gig, a stress reliever with minimal commitment. I always assumed that marching band would be my primary commitment. I’d carry on the legacy my sister left for me as a staff member, maybe even a drum major if I were lucky enough.
Fate, as it turns out, had other plans for me. The college marching band turned out not to be the home that I thought it would become. Instead, I found that home in the basement of Perkins, in a little corner of campus that most students don’t even know about.
Once I was trained and started doing my show, I was undoubtedly and irrevocably hooked. How amazing was it that I could have a spot on the radio where I could play almost anything I wanted?? I started to get creative with playlists, putting together songs I never expected to mix and always finding new music to enrich my broadcasts. It was nothing short of thrilling.
But I was a shy freshman. On my first ever show, all I said into the Basement’s DJ mic was the station ID and not another word. And for a while, I was ok with that. Later on, I got involved in the music department and attended weekly sorting hours. I liked the atmosphere and getting to listen to brand new music (despite the obscurity of many of the albums we were sent). In those days, the music department was run by Ilene West. I adored Ilene, as did everyone who met her. She did her show on FM at the same time I did mine on the Basement. Thank goodness for that. I had very little confidence about my ability to operate the board, and on several instances, Ilene got a panicked text from me in the middle of the hour asking for help. But she was always so kind and so willing to help me. Because of her, I thought maybe I would be WVUD’s music director at some point. There were some other folks that I would see at department meetings every week, and while I was still too shy to say more than “hello” when I walked in and “bye” when I left, I still liked seeing the familiar faces every time. It gave me hope that these people would maybe become my friends one day.
I can’t pretend I made friends immediately. That’s never been a strong suit of mine, and usually, it takes a while for me to find the people I want to spend my time with. I so missed having a group of friends, and I didn’t yet know where I would find that again. All I knew was that I was drawn to the station; it was something I wanted to be more involved in, and I just felt this calling to it. So I did a somewhat crazy thing for a freshman that was relatively new to the station…I ran for a board position. I was interested in the music director role, but I felt that I didn’t quite have enough experience to take the position. Instead, I ran for one that seemed chill, straightforward, and needed someone to fill it – program director. It turns out I was the only one who ran, so by default, I was elected. It wasn’t until later that I found out the program director is also the vice president of the entire organization…talk about impostor syndrome.
Being on the board was the best decision I made at UD. I didn’t do it because I wanted to be in charge or make decisions. I did it because I wanted to meet people, to be pushed out of my comfort zone, and it forced me to do just that.
Sophomore year was a blur of moving into an apartment (that I still miss to this day), scheduling shows, and finally starting to feel at home at UD. In other words, it was magical. I was still struggling in the friends department, but it turns out that all it took was one frustrated outburst about students going around me and scheduling their own shows to get two of those sorting regulars to think I was hilarious. Chris M. and Jamie have never let me forget that. Of course, I learned of this well after the fact. It took till the end of the year for me to really bond with those around me, to connect with Macayla and Melissa, Chris Hope, and Dylan (who were sadly lost to graduation that year).
My newfound friends joined me on the board at the end of that year, and I couldn’t have been more delighted. It’s no secret that this was the point when our incoming general manager took me on a date that wasn’t a date…even though it was definitely a date. It’s just part of WVUD lore at this point, and since I see everything in storybook form, it just seems right that it happened the way it did. And we’ve been together ever since.
Junior and senior years were, if possible, even more of a blur than sophomore year was. The Ops Board retreat, Open Mic Nights, Battle of the Bands, long nights in the lounge, co-hosting each others’ shows (more like crashing each others’ shows), meetings that lasted way too long, the occurrence of nuptials between the women of the Ops Board (it’s a long story)…we did it all. There were good times and certainly some rather ugly times, but things always seemed to work out in the end. We went through the sadness of watching other Ops members graduate, but we also got to find friends in the new Ops members who joined us.
Perhaps our favorite running joke is the fact that our experience at WVUD has been scarily akin to a sitcom, and one day, those of us who call ourselves writers will sit down and script it all out. It’s hard to describe without going deep into the lore, but trust that we have pages upon pages of memories, humorous bits, and recountings of situations that were so odd, you truly can’t make them up. It may not be for 20 years, but please do keep an eye out for the debut of our TV show, “College Radio.”
I have no shortage of memories from my time here, and I could continue sharing them until I’ve written a full book (or a four-season TV show). But a very special one that I do want to include happened on our Ops Board retreat at the beach this past September (Chris and Neil – you were there in spirit). After our typical four-plus hour meeting in the morning, we finally got time to suit up and hit the surf. It was a cloudy, somewhat cool day that didn’t call for much interaction with the water, especially for a weakling like myself. As the fish of the group, Jamie took to the waves immediately. I can’t remember who it was that gave in to his encouragement first and joined him. I just know that I was (shockingly) third to go in. The water was quite cold, but I had to admit that I’d missed the ocean. One by one, each of the remaining members on the beach submitted to the peer pressure and made their way into the water, however reluctantly. And then we swam together, diving through waves, splashing, getting pushed around. It was one of those scenes that felt like it should be in that TV show, and I never wanted it to end. That continues to be the first of the many amazing memories I’ve made with this group, even though I was still getting to know some of them.
WVUD filled the empty space in my heart in every way that I needed it to. It gave me a place on campus, a basement hidden away and known only to those of us who call it home. Being on the radio gave me the chance to be someone else…someone who is confident in herself, someone who isn’t quite so afraid to put herself out of her comfort zone, someone who can be cheeky and charismatic (when she wants to be), someone with a radio personality. My show has been my creative outlet, where I get to share my favorite music with others and introduce them to something they’ve never heard before.
But perhaps most important and most difficult to leave are the people who came into my life because of the station. These people are wonderful, driven, silly, inspiring, passionate, and true. From Steve and Dave to all my fellow Ops Board members to every person that has passed through the station during my tenure here – I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. And for that, I will forever be grateful. The fact that my time here is coming to an end still hasn’t really hit me yet. I’m confident that it will, and it’s going to hurt for a long time. But that pain is worth the knowledge that I got to be part of something so special. To my own spin on a quote from Steve Kramarck himself, WVUD is not everything to everyone, but it has been everything to me.
And now here I am, experiencing my full circle moment. I’ve gone through the transition to college, I’ve struggled and found my way, I’ve made true friends, I’ve watched those before me move on…and now it’s my turn. I’m not ready to go, but I don’t think I’ll ever be. I leave my precious station in capable hands, and even though it’s hard, I know it’s time for me to step back and give others the opportunity that I had: the chance to make this organization my own. I’m more than proud to have served the time that I have, and I’m honored to take my place in WVUD history.
After all, this has been my story, and it’s time for new ones to be written.
But it’s not quite over yet. We seniors put great thought into what we will choose as our last song played over WVUD’s airwaves. We see it as our legacy, how we want listeners to remember us, our rite of passage through the golden gates of whatever the WVUD version of Valhalla looks like. Some of us have been thinking about this choice for years. It’s a big decision and not one that any of us takes lightly. My final show will air from 2-3 pm on Friday, May 23rd, the day that falls between my convocation and commencement. If you are so inclined, please do tune in.
