By Taylor Linzinmeir, Staff Writer 

After an almost year-long hiatus, one of ACRN’s veteran DJs is about to hit the college rock airwaves once more. Sophomore Katie Hawkinson, otherwise known as DJ KT, will be back in the studio this week after studying abroad in Japan for the 2019 fall semester. 

Read more: Meet the DJ: Blue

I was immediately struck by all the relics of her travels when I first walked into Katie’s dorm room. The wall that runs perpendicular to her twin-XL bed was covered by a collage of vibrant photographs filled with smiling faces and beautiful Japanese landscapes. On the bed sat a Ryan the lion plushie, a character from the South Korean brand Kakao Friends, which is based on KakaoTalk emoticons. His likeness was also proudly displayed on the back of her cellphone in the form of a PopSocket.

Growing up in Fairfield, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Katie spent a lot of time at Jungle Jim’s International Market. She also spent time doing typical small-town Ohio things, like getting lost while driving down backroads. Despite her love for the supermarket that doubles as a wacky amusement park and discovering what the Cincinnati backroads had to offer, growing up in Fairfield doesn’t really mean anything to Katie. 

“I really feel like I have no identity from being from Fairfield. Some people are proud of where they’re from, but I’m just from Fairfield and I’m not necessarily proud of it,” Katie says. “I didn’t know that I limited myself to an American point of view. Meeting people who don’t live American life was really surprising to me for a while, but I want to live differently; I want to be a part of that.”

Katie is double majoring in journalism and global studies with a focus on East Asia. Her love for East Asian cultures began as just a general interest but grew into something more after she studied abroad in Japan. Now Katie dreams of living in Asia and perhaps working for the government. 

“I really enjoy learning about international relations. People don’t realize that we are so connected to that region of the world,” Katie said. 

Katie’s specialty show is called “Bangers, Bops and Jams” and features a variety of different genres of music, with bedroom-pop and surf rock being featured the most. 

In the past, she has had playlists that were made up of all the songs she listened to before she graduated from high school, and a playlist made up of songs she listened to in middle school before she learned that the world had more to offer than just pop music. Maybe this semester she will feature playlists based on her travels abroad. 

Click here to listen live to “Bangers, Bops and Jams,” hosted by KT every Friday at 5 p.m.