By Sam Botz
Hailing from Northbrook, Ill., Carolyn Bernhardt ’14 is an English major with concentrations in film and media studies. The latter shouldn’t come as a surprise for those of you who know her: for the second year in a row, Carolyn is the station manager of KSTO 93.1 FM, the St. Olaf radio station.
“I definitely learned a lot last year,” she said, “and I’m excited to have a year under my belt. We set a lot of goals last year that weren’t necessarily reached, but I know we’ll reach them this year: they were long-term goals. It’s going to be great to see everything finally come together.”
Quite a few of those changes have already been implemented: KSTO has a snazzy new website that went live just this past week, and a smartphone app is in the works to make listening live even easier. “It’s going to be awesome: people can subscribe to whatever shows they like and have them streamed straight to their phone,” Carolyn said. She’s also hoping to see KSTO reach a greater audience on campus: “We’re working on coming out of our dark little corner of Buntrock; it would be a dream to host a live show in the Pause sometime.”
Her plan involves nothing less than inviting Mark Wheat, host of 89.3 The Current, as a guest (“Meeting him in person was definitely a highlight—we email back and forth and he’s said my name on his show once…no, twice”) and inviting campus bands to perform covers of an album of KSTO’s choice. “The winner could get to record an EP in our station…if everything falls perfectly into place.” She smiled, “It’s worth a shot!”
Aside from making sure the station’s on air nearly 24 hours a day, Carolyn hosts two of her own shows: “One’s with Mac Leydon called ‘Doin’ it Big, Doin’ it Live’ where we basically just play songs that we listen to when…fill in the blank. Last week we did songs we listen to when we’re in the shower and this week, songs we listen to when we’re mad at our parents.”
Her other show, with Sean Gilbertson, is called “Dreams!,” and, yes, the exclamation point is important: “Sean and I wanted to do a show and as we were flipping through applications we found one that was completely normal, except in the corner someone wrote ‘Dreams!’ It was totally random and we thought it was funny, so we decided to use it.” Listeners are invited to call in with weird dreams they have had, but they shouldn’t get their hopes up to be psychoanalyzed: “We just talk about them! Last week we focused on lucid dreams and next week we’re hoping to do nightmares.”
While being part of KSTO has been one of Carolyn’s favorite activities on campus, she’s also a very active member of the swim team. A captain this year, Carolyn explained that “I think I’ve broken through a pretty major mental block as a senior: I’m just excited to race. I’m approaching this year as a fun experience—it helps take the pressure off of competing.” As a senior, she admited she’s “definitely not ready to be done by graduation”: “St. Olaf has a really great program, the coaches are fantastic and I know I’ve improved a lot since swimming here.”
What with the annual team trip to Florida and competing at Division III Nationals every year, Carolyn admited her team makes up some of her closest friends on campus. “They’re the most fun group of girls.” She added, “I’ve met so many people here that I wouldn’t necessarily have gotten to know on my own; a lot of cool people go to this school!”
On top of everything else, Carolyn finds the time to make post-grad plans that bring together her varied interests. “I’m applying for an internship with a film festival over interim that I’m really excited about—if it works out, of course! And while I’m definitely not ready to leave, I’d love to work in radio or film, and maybe coach swimming a little on the side.” When asked where she sees herself settling down she admited she wouldn’t mind sticking around in the Twin Cities “but I’d need to give Chicago five or ten years before I would feel comfortable going back, just to make sure all my high school friends have left. I could go anywhere—except Southern California, that’s key, “she added with a laugh.
In the meantime, Carolyn hopes to make the most of senior year while it lasts. As an individual with a lot to say and little to hold her back from being heard, Carolyn is an unmistakable presence on campus and impossible to ignore. “I’m too loud for secrets, I really am,” she explained when asked if she has any deep dark secrets to share. “I think a world full of secrets is a world full of insincerity, and I hope, if nothing else, to always be genuine.”