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Moving to a top 4 corp


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It's only a matter of time before someone accuses me of wanting to give everyone a trophy. No.

That's not how I think. Everyone doesn't deserve a trophy. And many kids benefit from the travel team coaching and competition. Ivy Leagues colleges and their peers can be an outstanding place to learn and grow. Top drum corps are great places to develop. 

All the same, these truths aren't absolute. The benefits of the elite experience don't apply equally across the spectrum of ability, desire and investment. Also, we have to remember that those benefits are not exclusive to the elite class. It is possible, even easy, to garner the same benefits via platforms less prestigious. And finally, the elite benefit is not eternal. Having attained that status doesn't change your destiny of itself. 

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2 hours ago, glory said:

Don't get me wrong. I know the virtues of an elite experience. I also know there are other routes to the same destination. I work today with some of the most brilliant minds I can imagine

I agree with much of what you say. I absolutely agree there are many routes and incredibly talented/capable/qualified individuals at all levels. I disagree however with the conclusion that the people moving are all seeking credentials. That may be true for some, but even when that’s true, so what? Maybe they have aspirations of leading the activity in the future and want to see for themselves how one of those corps operate. I think there are many factors influencing each members decision, and that’s ok. We shouldn’t be quick to judge their motives. 

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15 hours ago, LoveKathyG said:

If I had my way, all prospectives would be assigned to a corps by the sorting shako.  Would love to see what happens if there was more parity.  

*me sitting under the Sorting Shako*

"not Cadets, not Cadets, not Cadets"

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54 minutes ago, glory said:

It's only a matter of time before someone accuses me of wanting to give everyone a trophy. No. 

Then stop with the "sorting shako" comments.  Might as well hold a draft in late August for mm who want to march elsewhere.

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17 minutes ago, F15_22 said:

...I disagree however with the conclusion that the people moving are all seeking credentials... 

You're right. Not everyone moving to a top six corps is doing it for prestige alone. I didn't mean to suggest that. My generalization was meant to be about society in general and not about drum corps or its members in particular.

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Typically when a marcher is looking at a higher placing corps, they are looking to grow in an area they may feel they have stalled out at in their current corps.  As we all know, every corps has their own pulse.  They each have areas they are strong in, areas to grow in, etc - each pushing members in a unique way that in unlike the corps beside them.  Some marching members find they are either able to continue growing in their current corps, are content with the growth they've attained thus far, or are craving additional growth.  Like others have said, it ultimately comes back to the member themselves and their own personal goals.  Some members are known to have even left "top" corps to continue to pursue their own personal growth goals.  My advice?  Talk to your marching member and find out what the real reasons are.  Encourage them to listen to their heart & go for it!

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On 2/23/2018 at 10:27 AM, glory said:

Can't agree. Of course the higher-placing corps feed off (your term) the lower ones. But how does that kid get to camp? It's not the corps driving them. It's the kids. The top corps accept them when they apply. The top corps aren't recruiting them out of the ranks. This is not like college sports at all.

Speaking of college, your transfer reference is off. First, college transfers are a fraction of the student body. They are far more prevalent in drum corps. Second, college transfers reflect a wide range of reasons with seeking out an elite experience again a fraction. Many of the reasons for transfer are structural such as community/commuter college to the more traditional campus (which might be akin to Open/World class but not to the elite "transfer"). Some are financial. Some for love. Some are driven by changes in course of study. College transfers are often lateral and only a few are motivated by elite status (which is confirmed by the tiny percentages of transfer students at elite campuses).

What this is really about is a societal quest for credentials. It starts with travel sports. It includes honors classes. And it's on full display in drum corps. With parents driving the mania, kids think they're being deprived if they're not distinct from those who are just average or even above average. We rationalize it by saying we're getting superior instruction and pushing ourselves to be even better. The truth is most kids (and their parents) take the wrong lessons from that experience. It's a shame for all concerned.

You make some good points, but I'm only talking about the morality aspect raised by the OP.  Regardless of how many or few people transfer to Harvard from state schools, I don't think there's a moral problem to feel guilty about in doing so.  Nor does anyone associated with such institutions, to my knowledge.

And I still say that it would take a pair of brass ones (ovaries, perhaps) for a director to preach about the disloyalty of transfers while routinely accepting members he/she must presumably consider morally deficient.  Of course they don't really.  But it can work.  I don't know if anyone in the activity still preaches loyalty of this sort, but if they do it's just a guilt trip to get mms to stay.   Young people are impressionable and easily conned, I'm afraid.  Their judgement is still forming in their prefrontal cortices, poor dears.  Until 25 or so.

Instructors themselves leap around DCI with gay abandon; each year we await with baited breath the latest announcements of instructors we've heard good things about moving to our favorite corps.  Directors too.  All of whom will get fired the second it turns out the results don't match the hype.  Loyalty!

All of this is not to say a member shouldn't listen to their own inner voice on the matter.  They may feel loyalty and wish to honor that.  In such a case it comes from within.    Such loyalty is perfectly normal and I'm not saying they should ignore it.  But then it's part of why they actually want to stay, not a part of why they should stay anyway.  Does that make sense?

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On 2/23/2018 at 12:58 AM, LoveKathyG said:

If I had my way, all prospectives would be assigned to a corps by the sorting shako.  Would love to see what happens if there was more parity.  

Um, KathyG, By any chance did you pull Trumps head out of that shako?  :)

Interesting idea, anyway...  I mean about the sorting thing ...

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