CourtOfHonorMember

Hi you guys. I have been marching four years and I am now twenty. I am struggling with a feeling I have never had before. I love the activity, but I have strange thoughts like, "Why am I doing this? Shouldn't I be doing orchestral stuff to prepare for university? Will marching this summer prepare me for the coming semester?" Have any of you ever felt this way? It's horrible, I hate these feelings and thoughts. What should I do? Would I be deserting my corps if I had to leave due to school commitments? Thanks for your help.

I move in with my host family July 6th.

Have any of you ever had to change corps in the middle of the season for any reason. I have had to do it alot. I hope to age out in Spirit of NJ though.

I am joining Spirit of New Jersey this season! I learned I'm still not ready for senior corps. I'm going to tour while I can. Any Spirit members out there that can tell me what it's like? My first rehearsal is May 20th!

Was it bad of me as a corps member to do it? Maybe I should have asked my corps leaders first? I just thought it was fun.

My corps has rehearsals or camps on every Sunday. We just finished a camp this weekend. We have lots of performances too. How offten does your corps meet to rehearse?

I just would never want kids to stop marching DCI completely and have DCI not exist. I think senior corps should have feeder corps that are DCI corps and the members can move up when they are old enough.

Oh, that's what it's called. Maybe it's because the leaders were Canadian that it was called differently.

What is your corps director's deffinition? When I marched in Edmonton Strutters it was "Okay, let's trek the show." which meant march and play thousands of times.

What's in jest. I'm sorry, I'm a rookie this year. I don't know all this senior corps stuff. No really, what's the shovel?

That would be cool if senior corps had feeder corps. Like my corps should have the Muchacho Cadets for kids seven to sixteen.

What's the shovel of dirt?

So what do you guys think about letting younger kids like thirteen to say sixteen in? I think it's okay, but I also think that if they have the ability to march junior corps, they should march there first. I think they should also be mature enough too.

The Muchachos are having a camp this weekend on Sunday from ten to four thirty at the Boys and Girls Club in Manchester, NH. We are always looking for new members in all sections! Food is also provided for lunch. Check out our website: http://www.muchachos.org Hope to see you there!

Okay, some good findings today. I interviewed another person today. She says, "I think marching bands (meaning drum corps too) are the best part of the parade. Without you guys parades would be boring." There's light at the end of the tunnel!

Yeah, good point there. In my corps we aren't really allowed to discuss certain parts of the show or news that's not ready to be released to the public.

Yay, I figured out the edit feature! It's kind of scary if you think about it. One little sentence could get you cut from your corps really fast. People alot of times don't "think before they speak" which offten leads to hatred and misunderstandings. I have been guilty of this as a rookie. We think that it doesn't effect other people since it's just writing on the internet. Now, hopefully this topic will end soon. It's making DCP dirty like a corps on audition weekend or new drill. If you have anger or hard feelings towards someone, go practice or find some way of getting rid of them in a positive way.

I have a severe overbite. I feel like when I play for a long time, my jaw is straining. I also feel that this could be the reason that I can't play that high. I am considering getting braces. Is it possible to play with them on?

The first one hurts really bad. No one paid my way, and I'm sure the same goes for all of you. Now sponsorships are different, you earn those. That's not someone "paying your way." I am just in total shock right now. They don't know how much talent it really takes. Could they do it? I don't think so!

Okay, ages adults uh around fourty or so. Musical experience, one's a guitar player (nonprofessional) and one has none. Person one is the guitar player.

I decided to ask a few people that don't march or have never marched drum corps what they think about what we do. Here's some of their responses. Warning, you will be totally shocked as I was. These people just know of the activity from reading about it and maybe watching a few shows. This does not represent my corps in any way. Person one: "I think DCI is mostly about winning and the leaders making money. Most of the kids that march are spoiled brats and their parents pay their way. If they had talent they would be playing professionally. Why would you pay someone to let you play music? Most of these kids will never go on to play music for a living. If the music was really good, they would be making money." Oh my Gosh, I can't believe people actually think like this! How can we change their way of looking at the activity. Person Two: "I think the activity should be more about entertaining the audience, like in senior corps." Not too bad for that one. That's all I've interviewed so far. People should just get out there and do it before they judge what we do and how hard we work!

I am proud to have my corps in my signature. If people aren't mature enough to post, they shouldn't in the first place. Or they should make a forum for younger members that's moderated strongly. I believe not disclosing where you march is being ashamed of your corps. If you feel like you are going to misrepresent your corps, think about what you are writing before posting. And yes, the leaders of your corps will see what you post. I learned the hard way as a rookie. Maybe the corps director needs to find a way of screening members' posts before publishing them to DCP instead of banning complete posting.

Yeah, my corps is pretty relaxed about it. As long as we represent the Muchachos well. I think it's okay for members of corpss to post. I think that the leaders should just stop the ones that are causing the problems.

Just a question for you vets, if woodwinds were ever introduced into the drum corps activity, would senior corps be effected? Gosh I hope not! I like that my corps, and alot of other senior corps, are still using G.

Wow, you guys are inspiring! I am going to join in sports and running at school. (It's a school for blind students, so they make it adapted for us.)