Is quitting band the right decision?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I will be a senior for the 2017-18 school year. I started band in 6th grade for the fun. Ever since my sophomore year, I’ve been feeling stressed about band, and thus, I haven’t actually been enjoying it as much as I had freshman year. This year, I couldn’t take a certain class because I chose band over that class, and since then, I’ve had bitter thoughts about band (although there are still days where band has been fun). I’ve decided for next year to take the following 3 AP classes: AP Literature, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus. In addition, I also plan to take anatomy & physiology and US government & economics along with other easier classes (peer mentor and contemporary issues/mythology).

I’ve weighed down the pros and cons of quitting band, and one of my major concerns is if it will look bad on colleges if I quit my senior year. I’m wondering if they will see that since I decided to not do band for my senior year, they’ll think I’m a student that lacks commitment and diligence since I’m striving to go into the medical field.

Pros:
-I can still hang out with my band friends.
-I can have the senior pride of graduating in band.

Cons:
-The amount of stress
-The commitment of time

I’d also like to point out that these are the following clubs I’ve been in:
-Beta Club and Science Club (9th grade- present)
-Mu Alpha Theta, HOSA, JCL (10th grade- present)
-Science Olympiad and AP Committee (11th)
Also, I’m the treasurer in JCL and secretary/treasurer in HOSA this year. And as of now, I have taken a total of 4 AP classes and have a 4.0
GPA and perfect attendance.

Any advice on this? Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

2

Why are you stressed? Is band really the source, or is it something else? If you really enjoyed it freshmen year, I am more worried that you will end up looking back on high school and just having regrets and bad memories because something happened that is stressing you, but you haven’t solved the problem.

3

I’m stressed mostly from the fact that I’m not good at skills such as sight reading and rhythm counting, and I don’t have the time to improve on these skills anymore because of school and family problems. It’s also from the fact that my band director sometimes stresses me out by him constantly yelling at us on how we need to do better.

4

Colleges probably won’t care all that much if you drop band. However, I’m still just kind of concerned as to what your motivation is for quitting. Is it really a time commitment, or are you bitter about that class you mentioned and just don’t have motivation to find the time? Why can’t you just set aside half of your lunches two or three times a week to sit in the band room and practice? Do you really have to do something everyday, or do you not want to?

Anyway, you are the best judge on what you can do, so it’s your call. I would say don’t factor in what colleges will think into your decision. It won’t be a huge thing if you aren’t planning to continue playing in college. I would just think about it carefully.