Jump to content

Drum Corps for Engineering Majors


Recommended Posts

that said, an international engineering certification sounds like it COULD be a whole bunch of BS. I would look hard at what it offers, what you get in return, and how that may or may not improve your employment aspects. And don't look at what your school says it will do for you, look at what it will actually do for you.

In all honesty I expected somebody to point that something like that out; regardless of the benefits or lack thereof, I have now gotten myself quite interested in studying abroad because it does sound like an awesome experience. Really the biggest thing I have to decide now is, should it come down to it, would I choose it over drum corps? Quite a bit of thinking ahead of me here :blink:

Edited by laser.lemon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chemical Engineer here. I hire lots of engineers. What I look for is leadership skills and ability to make things happen. Drum Corps can do that for you in many ways, but I must say that at least one solid internship will help you. Can you do an alternating co-op program where you are in school? That's what I did in college. I never marched corps but could have with the ATC program. I wish I had marched at least one summer, but things worked out very well for me and I take satisfaction in helping others march. Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

re: study abroad

i've heard that it's awesome. All my friends that have gone have had a blast, and I know people that have gone to England, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan, China, Russia, India, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, etc. I was an International Relations major and I also wrestled with this issue. Ultimately, I decided not to study abroad. After graduation, I took a month and when backpacking around Europe (London, Paris, Rome, Interlaken, Bern, Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels), which is one of the best things I've done in my life.

You can probably do study abroad in the fall and still march the following summer. Spring would be much harder. Almost all the people I know that did study abroad went for a semester (or part of the summer), not the whole year. And it is possible to travel internationally without studying abroad.

There are also a variety of programs... some study abroad is basically a vacation, and some has actual educational value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all honesty I expected somebody to point that something like that out; regardless of the benefits or lack thereof, I have now gotten myself quite interested in studying abroad because it does sound like an awesome experience. Really the biggest thing I have to decide now is, should it come down to it, would I choose it over drum corps? Quite a bit of thinking ahead of me here :blink:

Think that would be interesting if you work or at least are around people who live where you would work overseas. Have spent a few weeks at Sicily, Puerto Rico, Iceland, Spian and Guam for my Dept of Defense job, some places more than once. Been years ago but still remember the places, people and experiences I can never get in PA. Even the "Hell" parts of the trips are being forgotten but not the nice ones.

No idea how it looks on a resume but the personal experiences you might never forget.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In new and mildly relevant news, I am now looking at doing a study abroad to satisfy requirements for an international engineering certification. It has been suggested to me that I do this my junior year. In all of your opinions, how might this affect my intentions to do corps the summer before my senior year (my age out)? If I just go for a semester, I feel like I could manage with an audition video and then be able to go the camps once I am back in-country, but if I go for a whole school year it would obviously present some obstacles... Thoughts?

Jeesh, you're not making it easy on the brain trust here. :tongue:

I have little to add to the discussion because I'm in finance, but I've really enjoyed reading the posts from those who followed their dream to march.

I gave up marching to learn to fly, after four years of marching. It's a decisin that I regret to this day. My career path changed dramatically during mid-college, but I could never change back to march again. That's not a decision I'll let my kids take lightly.

Good luck, and MARCH!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

So I am a freshman in college, majoring in engineering (civil, for those that wonder). When I was making the decision whether or not to audition for a world class corps this year, I was constantly reminded by friends and family of how difficult it will be for me to get a job post-college in today's economy, without getting summer internships first. I am auditioning anyway, and was able to rationalize this decision to myself by thinking that I am just a freshman, I have three more years to get internships should the opportunity arise, and that I would like to have at least one year of world class under my belt while I know I have the chance. As such, I am going into this drum corps season with the assumption that it will be my last- a sobering thought, for an eighteen-year-old.

Does anyone have any suggestions/similar experiences/anything remotely helpful as to how I might be able to make this work in the future- ideally I would like to march my age out and still have a solid chance at a job after college...

It's been a while since I've been on this forum, let alone written anything, but I think I'm qualified to chime in on your dilemma. I majored in civil engineering at Texas A&M University from 2005-2010 (5 years, no summer classes). I had this same question during my freshman year in whether or not I should march. To put it frankly, getting an internship as an underclassmen is HARD and dang near impossible in most cases. Companies will pass you up because they're more willing to help the guy/gal about to get out of school. That being said, I say go ahead and march as long as you can. You have over 40 years of work ahead of you, with only a few to march. After applying for dozens of internships and getting little to no responses, I ended up marching with a top-3 Division III corps, and a top-5 Division I corps in 2006 and 2007 respectively. I was the only engineering major in the D-III corps (of around 75) and one of maybe 3-4 in the D-I corps. Everyone else were primarily music majors.

In 2008, my age-out year, aside from my body took a toll from marching with a contra and from other previous physical activities, I had lost that spark to be in drum corps. I felt I got what I was looking for in DCI. I marched with my dream drum corps, and needed no more to feel satisfied with my experiences. I figured out pretty quickly that some people stay in drum corps because they don't have a lot to aspire to outside of music. In my case, I came to a crossroad in my life. I didn't need drum corps anymore. Marching was no longer a major driving force in my life, and I wanted to start focusing on my career and start building my resume. Not sure if I wanted to make the decision official, I went to one camp in the fall of 2007, and although I put my best foot forward in preparing and auditioning, I hated it. I remembered how tired I was of all the repetition, the long grueling rehearsals, and to a certain extent, the politics that can surround and taint a drum corps. However, while I was there, many rookies and new folks attended the camp with the same excitement and optimism I once had. Pretty quickly, I realized that DCI needs those kinds of kids-not someone doing it just to occupy their summer, so I quickly dropped my name from the running a few days after camp ended. I thought of it as passing the torch to a new generation so to speak. Throughout the rest of college, I still kept playing my instrument with concert and basketball bands. To this day, I still volunteer with my old corps, and go to 2-3 shows every year and proudly wear my jacket, even in the 100 degree Texas heat.

That being said, this was just my experience, and you could have a completely different one. The point I'm trying to make is that I encourage you to do both DCI and engineering. It's very possible. I have no regrets in what I did, and feel very blessed to be in the position I'm in now. Companies like to find people with personalities and interests outside of work and school. If you're serious about becoming a civil engineer though, be sure put focus into finding an internship or co-op at some point that is of your specific field of interest. They can be difficult to find, but they're out there. Aside from one summer internship, I was able to get another job at a local civil firm that allowed me to work part-time throughout the school year and full time during the summer. I wasn't even looking for the job so much as it was just being at the right place at the right time. It boils down to never knowing what's around the corner. As far as doing international stuff, study abroad, or whatever- as cool as they sound, they don't buy a lot of stock for you unless you're specifically looking to work out of the country. If nothing else, get as familiar as you can with Civil3D software, and Excel.

The nice thing about civil engineering is that there will always be a need for them. This isn't like getting some useless degree that qualifies you to work at Dillards, or another engineering field where you could be fired in an instant if the economy takes a down turn. Civil engineers aren't losing jobs that are going to China or India, and as long as people are still breathing, we'll always need water pipes, toilets, roads, drainage, etc. Like I said before, getting a job as a young student is very hard. Enjoy yourself and march while you still have the passion, time, and money. Trust me, there are plenty of people who do get a civil degree who never had a job in college. Having a 4.0 sure helps, but being more well-rounded helps even more. I finished with a 2.95 GPA, and no company I was interested in cared the slightest bit. The ones who did, I wouldn't want to work at anyway. Remember, you're only 18 years old, and you have your whole life still ahead of you. Whatever you do, work hard, play hard, be honest with yourself, and make the most of it.

Hope this helps, and best of luck making your decisions...

Edited by ContrasAreFun
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just throwing this out there as a random example...

My brother is about 30.

He holds a couple dozen issued patents, with about a dozen more filed and in process.

He designed the UI for the most radical operating system refresh in history for the world's most widely distributed OS.

He never did an internship.

He never went to university.

He never even graduated from high school or did a GED.

He marched drum corps.

He didn't regret it.

March now, worry later, life's too short.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...