<p>Hi guys, I'm in the marching and symphonic band, but I'm (sorry to use the old phrase) stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sophomore this year. When I say freshman - that's when I joined the band. </p>
<p>I'm in marching band for the first 11-12 weeks of school and we play at football games. Band is undoubtedly fun, however there is no pleasure without pain:</p>
<p>1) Band practice is M-Thurs., 3 - 6 PM. Arrive home at 7 PM. Cutting into my study time, and my grades have suffered a bit - I think that if I had more study time - I might have got 7 As rather than 5 As (barely, lol) and 2 Bs (low low Bs). </p>
<p>2) Performances are on Friday, and I get home at 11 PM often times (games end at 10 PM; transportation back to school and cleanup often takes half an hour at least). I like to spend Friday studying when I get back home from school. </p>
<p>3) Hangovers. I don't know, but every time after a performance, I just can't sit down and do work on Saturdays. Maybe I'll sit down and take a paragraph of notes on AP Euro. All the other stuff is pushed to Sunday. This is def. something I need to work on. </p>
<p>4) I am the most unlucky person in the whole band. The tuba/sousaphone section at my school was originally deprived of members, but the year I joined there were 3 OTHER FRESHMEN! ***. I'm not the best - the other two have been playing since elementary and middle school respectively, and I started in 8th grade :s - somehow I ended up in "Beginning Band" and ended up playing the tuba for a year at my middle school. I'm competent, but nowhere near section-leader quality. Or even assistant-section leader. So is sticking around worth it if your not in any kind of leadership role? </p>
<p>What sucks even more is that the band director doesn't like to get his hands dirty. The section leaders pick our chair in the section. I don't think that even if I took private lessons my section leader (ego-maniac; some kind of compensation?) would give me 1st chair. No way :s. And the band director doesn't pick drum majors, band captains, etc. It's all down by a vote, and I'm competing against a dozen other freshmen in what's basically a popularity contest :s. </p>
<p>As for the other sections, man man man. There's one or two upperclass men that are going to leave this year or the next. Then it's a sophomore. Not 2, not 3, but 1 sophomore. Automatic section leader. </p>
<p>Screw that -_-. For every single other freaking section. But the tuba section - me and 2 other sophomores. Jesus. </p>
<p>And for the freshman class of 2014! When all the sophomores clear out, it's just 1 or 2 freshmen to fill that 1st and 2nd chair. Why am I so unlucky??? </p>
<p>So is being 3rd chair in band any good? </p>
<p>Or is it too shabby for a decent college? I'd rather not go to my state college - I want to shoot for something higher. Not that Uni. of Florida is bad, but I know there are better ones and I'd like to be like my parents - prestigious colleges (Beijing Uni). </p>
<p>I heard it only gets harder in 11th grade IB. That compounded with about 3 hours of study time every night for the 1st 11-12 weeks of school. </p>
<p>Not that I haven't got a few tricks up my sleeve still. I plan to score highly on the PSAT and maybe win my school a couple of awards from Mu Alpha Theta competitions - we always get kicked to the curb by some private school with a dedicated Mu Alpha Theta class - all you do is drill on Mu Alpha Theta problems and finish a traditionally year long course like Pre-Cal in 3 months :s. </p>
<p>What do you guys think? 3rd chair = no good? Just an embarrassing on a college application? </p>
<p>PS: To throw in a monkey wrench, our band sucks as a whole. We play simple, 5 note fanfares at football games that I don't even bother to memorize the songs and their names (I just pretend to play for the first couple of seconds and catch on almost immediately after I hear my section play a couple of notes; skills from 5 years of piano and numerous piano competition awards :)). And the same fanfares for the past decade. And when other bands play them back at us, we get mad. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, we somehow made it to Carnegie Hall from winning a competition last year for concert bands wearing our "marching band uniform" (read - blue jumpsuit with suspenders). We came in one bus, and the other bands were laughing at non-stop b/c we were the only ones not wearing a suit :s. We didn't have a chorus or an orchestra - only anemic sections and an overpowering tuba section. And I brought a crappy tuba (not polished).</p>
<p>I think because of our appearance, we won the "Spirit" award - hey - you guys actually decided to come! And the judge probably felt sympathy for us. </p>
<p>Is going to Carnegie Hall a significant achievement?</p>
<p>I ran it past my mom, and she was quick to point out one thing. If you go there as a soloist, that's something. Part of a group ... meh.</p>