So, I do marching band (I’m a senior in high school now) and my mom insists that I march in college. Thing is, I’m planning on majoring in education, specifically science (most likely middle school science). I heard that education and science courses eat up your time. Is marching band worth it in college?
Marching band eats up a LOT of time too. At my school, marching band rehearsals are five days a week during lunch for about two hours.
Investigate how long of a time commitment it’ll take and whether or not you’re interested in dedicating that much time each week.
Remember: you’ll be expected to be there even if you don’t feel like it that day. If you want to study, the section leader and director won’t be very appreciative of you.
I thought about going for marching band in college because I marched in high school, but it seemed to take up a lot of time - at my college, rehearsal was 5 days a week for 4 hours each evening and games most Saturdays during football season. They also traveled to most of the away games, IIRC. I didn’t want to do anything that time-consuming.
However, my husband is the drum major of his college’s marching band and they’re much less time-consuming. They only go to home games and a few driving-distance rivals; they practice twice a week for two hours, and it seems almost as much social as it is about band.
If you’re a senior in high school - like, a rising senior - you’ve got plenty of time to consider this. You don’t have to make any decisions now - you can wait until you get into college (your college might not even have a marching band) and then see what the time commitment is like.
If you love it and can fit it into your schedule, go for it. Personally, I have made most of if not all of my friends from marching band, and college (a bigger place) could provide you an equal opportunity. It’s a community thing, ya know?
Community, friends – all good things. It would be a great way to get to know people outside of your residence hall acquaintances.
One perk at my daughter’s D1 school is that band members are offered early course registration.
Good luck with your decision.
It depends on your experience. I did one year of marching band at my university as a requirement for music education and hated every minute of it: it was too intense and time consuming. However I know a few engineering/chemistry/other heavy majors who do marching band as a way to reduce stress and enjoy it. But for me personally, I wouldn’t do it again.
Do it; you’ll meet a nice bunch of people and learn something about an instrument, which can lead at least to a fun sideline. Plust you get to see games free.
Whether it’s worth it is up to you. At D3 schools where athletics aren’t as big, marching band tends to be a more casual commitment with only a couple rehearsals a week. At big D1 schools, it’s a huge time commitment. If you’re going to a D1 school where marching band is intense and you don’t really want to do it, then it probably won’t be very enjoyable for you. I bet your mom would rather that you focus on your studies than be stressed out or fall behind. There’s no harm in trying it out, though!
I think your mom should let you decide what you want to do in college, and trust that you will figure it out once you get there.
Alrighty, all of you helped! Thanks to everybody who replied!