Should I quit marching band my senior year?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I am a rising senior and if I were to do marching band it would be my 4th year participating in it. I am in the color guard and I am guaranteed to be captain this year. I really want the leadership position but marching band is very time consuming: three 3 hour evening practices a week, all Friday afternoon and evening football games, and almost every other Saturday with special events.</p>

<p>On top of the time consumption, my guard instructor is insane and I hate her with every fiber of my being. Just being around her induces anxiety attacks, which effect my school work and other activities. The color guard feeds into the winter guard program as well, which I have participated in since middle school. This would be my 6th year competing and this past year we won 1st place in our division.</p>

<p>My main reasons for staying in the program would be the leadership position and that it is the only extracurricular I would have been in all four years. The indoor program is also starting to improve and it would be nice to win another medal at championships. I also just received a varsity letter in both band and winter guard. I am also really skilled.</p>

<p>My main reasons for wanting to leave are that I hate the instructor, I don't have time with 5 AP classes and 3 honors courses next year, I have leadership positions in other clubs, and I just don't enjoy it anymore. Also, I would be the only senior with everyone else being a sophomore or a freshman because our 7 seniors are graduating this year (2 of whom are some of my best friends) and my other junior friend quit to cheerlead for varsity. </p>

<p>Should I quit marching band? Would not having any 4 year commitment activities be a problem for colleges? Would my leadership positions in other clubs make up for the loss of this one? My other activities include: NHS (parliamentarian), National Spanish Honor Society (Treasurer), Future Business Leaders of America (President), Model UN (member), Book Club (member), and Film Critics and Directors Club (meeting czar and co-founder). </p>

<p>I honestly just need some advice. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Here’s a Parent’s perspective:</p>

<p>Learning to make wise choices is a part of maturing into an adult. You are about to hit serious academics your senior year, and clearing your calendar to allow time to study and be successful academically is one of those hard decisions.</p>

<p>You have obviously thought this out, and realize possible pros and cons of your decision.</p>

<p>I think that you will want to explain this decision in some way to your prospective colleges, to put it in context of making time for academics. I think you have proven yourself in this EC, and it is okay to choose to move on.</p>

3

<p>You might as well quit it since you don’t enjoy it anymore. It seems like you have some decent leadership positions in other clubs.</p>

4

<p>I think I am going to stick it out for the outdoor season because I will get the leadership position and I heard a rumor that the band trip this year might be to Disney World,.
I’ll probably pass on the indoor season though because it takes up a lot more time and if we go to Wild Wood this year for championships, it will interfere with AP testing and I cannot have that.</p>

5

<p>@GingeroftheWeb‌ there is late testing, so I don’t see that as an issue</p>