The country music playing faintly in the background can barely be heard over the clamor of boys rapping, "This is why I'm hot! We're on 13 street, we're runnin' down the street, he bought a Cadillac, man whatsup wit dat? This is why I'm hot!"

So begins a typical Friday night for LIMO driver Emma Lee Riesterer, a sophomore in the College of Engineering.

"This night is pretty normal," she said. "It's early for people to be as drunk as they are, though – it's 10:30 and I'm already taking people home!"

Riesterer has been driving LIMOs for one semester, after serving as a safety patrol her freshman year. She said although driving LIMOs is more stressful than safety patrolling, it is more useful.

Riesterer works two five-hour weekday shifts and one 10-hour weekend shift, from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.

"It is hard to work on the weekend when all your friends are out," she said. "It's a 10-hour long shift, and there's a lot to pay attention to."

Riesterer said she does not get tired during her shifts, though. She said she's always busy: The radio is blaring, passengers are talking and there are road signs to pay attention to.

It all hits her afterward.

"After I get home, the noises continue," she said. "When I'm sleeping, I dream about people wanting to go places, and the noise sticks with me for another half-hour. I keep waking up and feel like I'm driving and I don't want to be driving anymore."

In order to become a LIMO driver, Riesterer had to complete 15 hours of walking with safety patrollers, training with a LIMO driver, taking a driving test, 20 more hours of training and a final test. The whole process can take three weeks or a couple months.

LIMO drivers are paid during training, and the starting wage is $7.75.

"In the beginning, it's really hard," Riesterer said. "It's difficult to get used to the one-way streets, the road rules and learning how to use the radio. It's also hard to memorize addresses."

Riesterer said drivers wait three minutes at each destination. When someone calls for a LIMO, a dispatcher answers and calls it over the radio. The LIMO that is closest to the location takes the call, she said.

"Every call is taken and responded to as soon as possible," Riesterer said.

She said the craziest driving times are anytime before or after breaks, when she has to drive people to the train station, and any weekend shift, when partiers don't know where they're going.

"The hardest part about being a LIMO driver is the unappreciative passengers," Riesterer said. "People who think they know a better way to go, and rude people who tell you what to do."

This was evident on the LIMO drive as people frequently yelled, "What are we waiting for?" or "We need to go" and "Just hit these kids."

Riesterer said she usually ignores these people and, for the most part, enjoys her time with passengers.

"Drunk people love to sing along to the radio and get into deep conversations with me," Riesterer said. "Sometimes people will ask me to drive them around the block so we can keep talking."

When asked if she had any funny LIMO stories to tell, Riesterer said she once drove a student who was very intoxicated and hitting on his T.A., who was very sober.

"He kept asking her for her phone number, and she was not having it," she said.

Riesterer said her favorite time to drive is around 2 a.m., when the crowds calm down and the streets are calm.

"I like it," Riesterer said. "There's less traffic, and everyone goes to sleep."

She also said Cobeen is the dorm that calls the most, and most LIMO riders are freshmen. On Friday, 12 people got on at once at McCormick, all taking pictures and screaming the song, "Walk it out!"

At Schroeder, 15 people got on, someone saying, "I chipped a piece of my tibia off," to which someone replied, "Tibias are overrated."

Riesterer said the most rewarding aspect of her job is when people thank her.

"It's nice when people appreciate you and are glad that you drove them," she said. "Then, at the end of the night, I feel useful, like I did something."