soccerguy315 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 as long as you are giving 100% everyday for yourself and the people around you for the season, there are no issues with ultimately having the goal to march a different corps. how many people are working at the same place that they started working in high school? There is not a problem with moving on to another job, as long as you have given your best at the job you are currently doing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) I was thinking of taking a season off from marching so that I could get ready for college, etc, but I've heard a lot of downsides to it. Have any of you ever taken a year (or more) off? What did you think of that, and do you think it will make it harder for me when I come back? (note: I have 5 years of marching left. If I march this season it'll be with the corps I marched in 2011, I just miss them too much, but I will want to audition for the Blue Devils either 2013 or 2014, so I'm worried I might be too out of practice..) I can only tell you my own personal experience. When I graduated from High School back in the Middle Ages (the year was 1975) I decided to take a year off from Drum Corps and just spend the summer partying until I had to go to college in the fall. It was a total waste of life but unfortunatly I was pretty good at it. Then one day in October of that year I was driving down the road and spotted someone that I marched with wearing his corps jacket. So I pulled over and picked him up and the conversation immediatly turned to Drum Corps. When he told me it was the Blue Devils who won the World Open that year I can honestly say that it was the first time that I ever heard of them, and that was just from taking one season off. That's when I realized that I had to get back in the saddle, and believe me it wasn't easy. Edited December 9, 2011 by Piper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rohn Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Save yourself the mileage expense and march The Academy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
platesfan Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I have to say I can't recommend taking a year off. In 2008 my corps folded. I sat on my butt all summer and watched other people marching and even though I had only marched a year before that and I was 15, it was still hard to WATCH drum corps shows without being in them. Then in 2010 I didn't march for about half the year and jumped into Kilties as a hole filler. Granted it wasn't by choice but not being in DCI was a hard experience. Then this year I was once again cut from the corps I wanted to march (long story for that) and almost decided that DCI was just not worth it. Then a good friend of mine told me that the decision really comes down to your future. This choice is YOURS to make. Just make sure that you have no regrets on your decision. You want to be able to look back and not regret taking the summer off. Just think of that before you make this choice. Trust me. Your heart and having no regrets will not lead you astray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Save yourself the mileage expense and march The Academy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartans87 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 IMHO - If you are taking the year off for the sake of taking it off, meaning if you have nothing really stopping you from marching, march. Why? Lets say you take this year off. Life and college gets going and something happens that forces you to NOT march the following year. And then the same thing happens again, and again, and again, until you are out of time. You will sit there in life and say "why didn't I march that one year I could have and didn't?" Major regret for sure. Point is - march when you can, because you never know what will happen in the future that may limit your time available to march. March....... (did I say that already? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Look. The reality of it is that kids move from corps to corps these days. Kids leave one top corps to go to another tops corps... looking for different experiences... ones that are aligned with their needs and goals at THAT particular moment. What could be exactly the right thing for that kid this year, might not be the right thing next year. This is the practical reality of youth. To try to guilt a kid into not participating in the activity because you question their motivations and loyalty to a specific program is an antiquated view that does not take into consideration the practical realities of the current state of the activity. As for the kid staying or leaving... it is up to the corps to do the sales job on the kids.. through the quality of experience, not through guilt tripping. A: What am I looking for? The same thing the person addressed in post # 22 should be looking for? B: I didn't try to "guilt" anyone into not marching. C: I'd admit to liking waffles, but I have a feeling you would find that "antiquated." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 March. period. end of discussion. Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsoprano Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 ... I will want to audition for the Blue Devils either 2013 or 2014, so I'm worried I might be too out of practice..) You had me totally on your side until that last bit. If the real reason you would choose to march again at the corps where you marched last year is because you're worried that you'll be too out of practice to make Blue Devils in 2013 or 2014, then stay at home. You would be doing your former corps a great disservice if you march there just to -- as you yourself said it, stay in practice so you'll have a better chance of making Blue Devils. Because believe it or not, that's not what your current corps is there for. Now if you want to march next year because you enjoyed the past experiences at your current corps, have a love for that corps and want to help make them and yourself better, then by all means, march. Just don't do it for the wrong reason. Of course, if you truly enjoyed your experience at that corps, why go anywhere else. The grass really isn't always greener on the other side. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 (edited) For those who think this young person is "taking time off" for vacations, he/she did say in a later post that getting supplies, finding a palce to live, and money to march and go to college are all issues. While I agree that staying with his/her current corps rather than marching to prepare for marching with the Blue Devils would be a good idea and has far more integrity, jumping from corps to corps seems to be the norm these days and has been for quite a while. A topic for another issue. You certainly have important decisions to make. Hopefully you have good people who can guide you, and if those guiding you know the ins and outs of going to college while balancing drum corps, all the better. I graduated from high school in 1981 and I recall a few people I knew who marched having to make a similar decision. For most, preparing for college meant working, and from the sounds of it, that's your situation, and in challenging economic times it's not easy. One thing you may want to consider is your major. If you are planning on majoring in music, or more specifically music education, marching may be the equivalent of an internship, albeit one you are paying for, but may qualify you for merit scholarships at music schools. It will also look great on future résumés. You may also want to look at the availability of part time jobs near your college which may mean you can march this summer and work in the fall. It seems that most kids who march in drum corps are super motivated and I'd be willing to bet you're of the same ilk. Even though I won't know who you are, I hope to see you performing if not this summer, then next! Now for people in my age bracket or older, I know that three major corps from Massachusetts: Boston Crusaders, 27th Lancers, and North Star worked tirelessly to make sure that anyone qualified to march was able to do so, hoping to keep drum corps from becoming an activity only for kids who could afford it. Ask people who marched with these corps and they'll mention how some of the corps they competed with had all kinds of advantages and that the members were often from well to do backgrounds. It's also well known that all three of these units faced tremendous odds, and sadly only one of the corps has survived to this day. When we see campaigns for academic scholarships for those who march or opportunities to sponsor someone in a corps, maybe it would be a good idea to respond. For those who marched, it's a way of keeping the tradition alive and for those of us who were in the stands, it's payback for all the great shows and memories. Edited December 9, 2011 by Tim K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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