By Jillian Jennett
Staff Writer

Have you ever wanted your own radio show? Simmons College Radio: The Shark just may be the place for you.

The station, located on the third floor of Lefavour Hall, is broadcasting 24/7 with live shows and recordings constantly streaming worldwide. With over 30 shows and many more DJs bringing life and music to the station, its no wonder that The Shark is award-winning.

The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Awards are held in New York City every year, where over 500 colleges and high school radio stations compete in categories from most creative show to best use of social media all the way to, of course, best station.

A team of 11 Simmons radio hosts is representing The Shark for their award nominations, the most impressive being Best College Station for a college with a population under 10,000 students.

You can’t really say that The Shark reaches only 10,000 people when it has a global audience. Every week, thousands of listeners tune in to The Shark. There are several shows on air currently who utilize not only the English language, but others as well.

“It’s a safe space, where I can talk about my personal views as well as non-mainstream opinions in Spanish and English,” said Ana Saavedra, the Operations Director of The Shark and the host of According to Ana. “On my show, I try to focus on at least one major topic pertaining to Latin America in a good light.  I feel that positive news pertaining to Latin America is unrepresented in United States media and, when it is, is spoken about exclusively in a negative light.”

Is it easy to get involved on the radio? Absolutely— Everyone is welcome to a weekly spot. All you have to do is sign up and shadow a current host. There are also many opportunities to get involved on the management side of the station.

“I started my first day of classes first year,” said Caroline Qualey, general manager of The Shark, “Len Mailloux, the faculty advisor, was my first professor and recruited me after our radio class. I was made the music director a week later and have been on the management team ever since. Radio has been a great experience for me in many ways. It’s given me great public speaking and programming skills that are applicable to many of the other jobs and internships I have had. I have also made great friends through radio at Simmons and other college stations. It’s an accepting and open environment that allows for a lot of creative freedom.”

Interested in learning more? Follow us on Twitter @RadioSimmons for updates about the station and to learn more, email leonard.mailloux@simmons.edu to get involved.