Stickers overwhelm the walls at KSFS studios, where Sarah Mendoza and family are celebrating Sarah’s twenty-first birthday on the air. Her parents are easy to spot, as they’re the only ones with tears in their eyes. Sarah is one of the last ’87 babies to turn “the big 2-1.”

“I’m just so proud of her,” says Morena Mendoza, Sarah’s mom, as more tears stream out. Today, they got to see their little girl do what she loves: play music.

This fresh “woman” will be hosting a two-hour weekly radio show this fall on San Francisco State’s radio station, KSFS. Her show, dubbed “Hip Hop’s Love Letter,” promises to remind you why you fell in love with rap and hip hop in the first place.

There are currently fifty-eight shows on KSFS, most with two or more DJs in the studio at a time, often with guests, students and artists.

“My goals are to play underground, chill hip hop,” says Mendoza. “Something you can put on while doing homework. Something you can vibe with instead of all the mainstream crap. I’m a hopeless romantic. My favorite songs are where the male speaks to the female in a positive manner.”

Sarah’s show, like all the other shows this fall, will be airing on KSFS. The station operates out of SF State’s Broadcasting and Electronic Communication Arts program. It is set up as two classes that are not just limited to BECA students- anyone can take them. The station, largely unknown by most of the campus, does not have a home on the FM or AM, but is broadcast entirely online. Students are allotted almost complete creative control within FCC guidelines, according to the radio stations website.

So why don’t more students know about this opportunity, and why aren’t more people listening? Station manager Sean Horan blames a “high student turnover” , so that temporary increases in listeners eventually disappear. Also, there is no broadcast signal, and Internet radio is a new and unfamiliar medium. Horan adds that a “broadcast signal would help students find, listen and fall in love with KSFS.

“People shouldn’t just listen to my show,” says Sarah. “They should listen to every show. These are my colleagues, my peers. I’ll be tuning into them.”

“They don’t see it nearly enough,” says BECA student Armand Baudin. “They don’t see our call letters outside the creative arts building or around campus at different events. We need more promotion and advertisng around campus and the city.”

“Sarah is a wonderful and dedicated student,” says Station Manager Sean Horan. “Her passion, conviction, and dedication to the craft have a positive impact on the quality of her radio program.”

“I can see Sarah being a radio DJ for a very long time,” says Violet Mendoza, the host’s older sister. “She does a great job of grabbing your attention and is very easy to like and relate to. Most importantly she has a love for music which makes her a strong radio DJ.”