I came to KTRU and Rice in 2004 as a transfer student from the University of Texas at Austin, where I had DJed at KVRX Austin from 2003-2004. I was so happy to join KTRU because it provided a sense of community on Rice’s campus – walls of albums I recognized, millions of ones I didn’t, and memorabilia from past shows and messages from past DJs stuck to the ceiling, floors, and walls. Moreover, while KVRX was suffering from battles with the UT administration, KTRU had at least tacit support from the Rice administration, and while KVRX had to time-share with KOOP, KTRU ran 24 hours a day.

My first semester, I shared a shift with a Rice computer science professor, Ian, who told me about The Chills, whose Submarine Bells album I still enjoy. As a college sophomore I was really into bands like The Impossibles, Rainer Maria, and a little bit of Shonen Knife, but The Chills’s New Wave started me listening to Goldfrapp, Joy Division, Go-Betweens, Arcade Fire, Chromatics, and a host of artists that I now enjoy. KTRU is special among student organizations at Rice, and frankly, among student organizations at most universities, in that faculty, graduate students, undergrads, and Houston community members all work together with the common goal of widening their knowledge of music and sharing it with the Houston community. Nowhere else on campus do undergrads have the opportunity to mingle with a cohort that diverse, manage a large staff, run an FCC licensed media outlet, develop large events with well-known acts, interview musicians and Oscar-winning directors (I got to interview Ross Kaufman and Dana Briski of Born Into Brothels for the news show the day after they won the Academy Award because KTRU had been sent a review copy of their film), learn sound engineering, media software, public speaking, news writing, communication law, marketing, event booking, and more all in one place.

The skills I learned at KTRU, from serving as DJ Director from 2005 to 2007 (if memory serves), got me my first post-graduation job at a public relations firm in Austin, and then as an intern, writing for Morning Edition with WBUR Boston, and then as an Editorial Assistant with Boston Review magazine. As a Rice undergrad, I volunteered with a lot of student organizations, but no professional experience continues to be more attractive to employers than the time I spent at KTRU. I am confident that I would not have landed any of those jobs without the professional experience I gained at KTRU.

KTRU not only shaped me as a person, as the place I met my best friends at Rice and the place where I expanded my taste in music, but it shaped my career. And I still listen to the station regularly, even from across the country.

Lauren Ames
Jones, 2007