DJ Mia is on the air in Cambridge Bay

Reality TV personality Ariel Tweto shares a laugh with Mia Otokiak during an on-air interview in Cambridge Bay Sept. 26 during Tweto’s Arctic tour. Otokiak says she longs for the day when she can do more interviews, and even have her own radio show. (PHOTO BY KELCEY WRIGHT)

SPECIAL TO NUNATSIAQ NEWS

CAMBRIDGE BAY — In an otherwise empty building, Mia Otokiak slides the slick, black button forward and her own voice begins to fill the room.

“Up next is ‘Applause’ by Lady Gaga,” she says, her voice amplified through the speakers.

Otokiak, Cambridge Bay community radio deejay, is passionate about her job.

“I love being connected to the community,” she said, during an interview with Nunatsiaq News. “So many people know who I am now and so many people know my voice and the community is very supportive. I love it.”

After graduating high school in the summer of 2014, Otokiak began taking steps to achieve her goals.

“I hope to have my own radio show one day,” said the 18-year-old, who recently finished a month-long, online Nunavut Arctic College course on community radio operations.

“I learned a lot about programs,” said Otokiak. “I want to start that [in this town].”

Many other community radio stations across Nunavut have implemented programming including talk shows and interviews.

“The thing is, I’ve never done something like that before,” she said. “I interviewed [reality television star] Ariel Tweto earlier this year and I loved it. I’d like to do more stuff like that.”

Otokiak said she hopes to circulate a community survey that she created as part of her online presence to find out what people want to hear on the radio.

The survey will ask listeners their age, their favourite musical genre, what time they usually listen to the radio and what they would like to see changed.

“This is a start for us [at the radio station],” she said. “I can’t wait to interview people and start regular programs to give [listeners] something to look forward to.”

The Cambridge Bay radio station, which has operated since 2005, was previously run strictly by volunteers. Otokiak became the first paid employee to work as a radio deejay in Cambridge Bay when she began in June of this year.

“That’s how small we’re starting here. We’re just really sinking in to it now,” she said with a smile. “I can’t wait until this whole thing just blooms.”

She works 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, playing music from the iTunes library of more than 10,000 songs and delivering local announcements and birthday messages to listeners.

Otokiak recently applied to the Radio and Television Arts program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton in the hopes of going to school there in September 2015.

“I always wanted to be a [television] reporter,” she said. “But after working here, I’ve grown to love the radio and my job so much.”

That love of radio is no surprise to her family members.

“I like her [on the radio],” said her uncle Ashlee Otokiak, who plays the violin, guitar, piano, harmonica and many other instruments. “She’s got a good voice.”

Radio, and music, seem to run in her blood.

Otokiak’s grandmother has worked at a radio station in Gjoa Haven for more than 20 years.

“Whenever I used to go visit, [my grandmother] would always take me to the radio station and show me around and I remember thinking it was really cool,” said Otokiak.

“Even though she has retired now, she still goes in and volunteers at the radio station all the time.”

That’s why when Otokiak’s teacher handed her a resume in June and told her to apply for the radio deejay position in Cambridge Bay, she was more than happy to take the advice.

“It was a perfect opportunity,” she said. “It’s brought me one step closer to my dreams.”

With everything Otokiak learned in her recent course, as well as everything she hopes to learn at NAIT, Cambridge Bay radio listeners can expect to hear regular scheduled programming on the air waves soon.

“It’ll be the first time I get to make my own show,” said Otokiak. “I just really can’t wait until we can get this radio station to the point where people tune in for specific shows. That will be great.”