After getting her start in the Radio1 Student Jock program in 2017, Ria Ramirez realized she wanted to pursue radio hosting as a career. In 2019, “Student Jock” was officially dropped from her on-air persona and she became the newest official addition to the roster of Monster Jocks! 

From an audition blunder to student jock

Ria decided to try out for the Radio1 program when other friends of hers asked her to like their own audition videos on Facebook. Seeing their videos made her consider trying out herself, and so she took an audition video – which apparently took fifty takes – and luckily was asked to drop by the station for the next level!

The in-person interview didn’t go as perfectly, though. Ria recalls being asked by the program directors to read a spiel that mentioned the name of actor Ewan McGregor, which she didn’t know how to pronounce! “His name is spelled E-W-A-N. So then I said it as ‘ewan’ hahaha! They made me finish and I said it like, thrice. So halatang ‘di ko talaga alam i-pronounce!” 

Lucky for her, that little blunder didn’t define her overall performance, and she went on to become Student Jock Ria Ramz of UP Diliman from 2017 to 2019! 

The bullied but beloved little sister 

Having trained as a student DJ for two years, Ria got to know and learn from many of the RX DJs before she became an official part of the roster. “My first mentor when I was a student jock was Rico Robles. So, I really learned a lot from him. And then my other mentors, they’re not here anymore, but I really learned a lot from Lexy, from Cara.” 

It’s not just her former mentors that have helped Ria grow in her career, but every DJ she’s got to form a connection with. “I learn constantly from my partner JC, and also from my previous partner Nikki. And just from everyone! MJ, Tom, Karla,The Morning Rush, everyone talaga,” she said. “They don’t just teach me how to be a good radio DJ or radio host. They’ve taught me so much about life in general. I’m grateful ‘cause I’m the youngest here in Monster, and I’m grateful that I kinda have big siblings here.” 

Yup, Ria is our resident Gen Z jock! And while she really looks up to her “ates and kuyas” on the Monster, she can’t deny that there’s a lot of playful bullying involved, too. “Oh my God, I am forever bullied here by everyone! But in a good way! You know, parang the little sister talaga.” 

“There’s this one time when I couldn’t walk properly, I came here on crutches,” she recalled. “And Sir Lou, one of the bosses, got one of my crutches and put it on the ceiling! So it was like, hanging there, and obviously I couldn’t really get it, cause I couldn’t really jump for it, cause my knee was like… dead. And the other jocks were using my crutches to do a little crutch game! So they would jump from one place to another. I don’t know, they always just bully me.” 

But like a true family, at the end of the day when all the bullying is done, Ria gets some great advice from the jocks she looks up to. “They’ve really helped me with so many things. Questions about love, when things were kind of going downhill in the love department,” she said. “There are just so many things that make me feel like I have big sisters and big brothers here. That’s a vibe.” 

On the new set up, new show, and new segment 

Was it tough for Ria to switch things up to board-from-home mode, after just getting used to her regular stint? “Other than the fact that we switched from face-to-face boarding, which was so much more intimate and so much more natural, to suddenly like everything was online. I also had to switch shows from Good Vibes to The Daily Survey,” she explained. “It was challenging, but a good kind of challenging, too. You know how you never get comfortable, and that’s how you grow.” 

Despite the changes brought about by the pandemic, Ria has adjusted well to a new set up, a different show, and even an entirely new segment called Faces of Indieground! “Indieground has always been something I loved about Monster— being able to give all these rising Filipino artists a platform to share their music with more people. So when my brain child, Faces of Indieground, came to life, I was so excited.” On this segment, Ria interviews past and present artists from our playlist of independent Filipino music. “I’ve already learned so much from every interview and every artist. It’s been such a huge honor being able to host it. I mean, being able to talk to these artists that I believe will one day take the music scene? Being able to support local? Yes. Best feeling ever.” 

Putting a smile on the Monsters’ faces 

Part of the reason why being a Monster Jock is such a dream job for Ria is because of the listeners she interacts with everyday. “My favorite thing about being a Monster Jock would be, number one, being able to bring a smile to the faces of the listeners! When they DM us or whatever saying that, ‘Oh, you guys have helped me through this and that.’”

In fact, she’s even been able to bring more loyal listeners into the digital space – Ria brings her cheerful on-air charm to her TikTok, where her followers get a peek into her life as a DJ! “It’s just such an amazing feeling to know that something that you do everyday, something that seems so mundane to you, actually can have such a big impact, and I love that.” 

What would the Monster be without our fun-loving, meme-worthy little sister Ria? We’re sure that she’ll continue to bring smiles to the listeners and everyone at the station for a long, long time. Be sure to catch her on The Daily Survey, Faces of Indieground, and Hip26! Check out Ria’s jock profile here.