Drum Corps for Engineering Majors

[Veritaffle]

Hi laser.lemon,

I thought perhaps our experiences are rather similar, so here are my thoughts. Although not in engineering, I am also in one of those cutthroat fields where there is a lot of pressure to do the internships; however, I am firmly of the opinion that no matter how competitive the jobs market, what matters most is what makes you happy and satisfied. You have the rest of your life to join the rat race, but you only have four years to march DCI. Only one of the two paths will make you lifelong friends upon whom you can call anytime, memories that will inspire you through the most difficult of times, and a determination and work ethic that will serve you no matter what you choose to do.

Practically speaking, I interned over the past summers to gain some work experience, and there was no real difference in competitiveness in the abstract in applying for those internships sophomore year and junior year between me and my classmates - in fact, my drum corps experience over my freshman summer gave me something unique to discuss over my interviews, and your prospective employer will be impressed by the fact that you worked your butt off in 100-hour "workweeks" in DCI. Your prospective employer will be much more interested in things like how well you interview and your GPA, based on my experience, than whether every summer you did an internship. I also did an internship during the school year, which is something you may wish to look into.

It will be my age-out year this summer, and after much thought, I am determined to march for the reasons I described above. I hope that a few years down the road, you will make the same decision. Really, having done both, there's nothing like a summer of drum corps in the world.

[Bruckner8]

If you're truly smart enough to be a successful Engineer, then there will be a job for you, no matter what/where/when.

And if you're that smart, you'll understand this logic: The jobs will always be there, but junior drum corps won't.

[jplattSCV]

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...

I marched 5 years of drum corps with 2 different corps. I was also an engineering student at Texas A&M (ironically ,not in the corps there)

My summers up until I was 22 and had aged out were all about drum corps. Engineering class loads are brutal and I had to budget money and time for getting to Santa Clara monthly for camps. I was also a coop student eventually. At A&M this is normally a 3 semester proposition. 2 summers and 1 fall/spring. I had to talk my advisor into bending the rules to give me summers for my own personal drum corps purposes. I had to explain why spending a summer doing something entirely non engineering related was both useful and important. At the time, my argument was that I was only young once and that the rest of my life could wait. My advisor bought it and let me have summers off without blocking me from internship opportunities later.

After graduating and building the typically thin resume of a college kid, I had references to drum corps on my resume to fill out the page. Without fail, the subject of drum corps came up during campus interviews. By that time, I was using the "learned work ethic" and "gained confidence" lines to make it sound important. Lots of interviews. Eventually a job offer from a guy whose brthoer was a band directory in Midland Texas.

4 years after graduation, I was interviewing for a new job so I could move to a new city and I still had the drum corps stuff on my resume. Once again, it came up in the interview. But, this time I had grown up to realize that that experience had absolutely impacted my ability to be an engineer. Not just the obvious ones of working hard and confidence but, rather applying myself to such a high level in something "artistic". I had exercised a chunk of my brain that would likely have been completely ignored with only traditional engineering college courses and friends. My interviewer actually had a son that was a trombone player in the band at University of Florida while studying computer engineering. He expressed concern and that he was hoping that his son would quit because it was taking up too much time. I bit my lip briefly and then decided to go back at him with guns blazing. I urged him vehemently to change his mind because the experience in music was going to eventually make him a more rounded and effective problem solver. (I did get hired there also)

I am now 20 years removed from drum corps and I feel even more strongly that drum corps is a differentiator not a detractor from your professional education. Especially as music and arts programs get squeezed out.

Problem solving is ultimately what an engineer's main duty is. Drum corps is going to equip you with a whole extra half of your brain that will be available as a tool for this purpose.

An extra year in college is totally worth it.

[Bruckner8]

Wow, tough crowd! I get (-1) for speaking undeniable truths, lol.

[Toby]

March one year, intern the next, age out the third year.

[Michael Boo]

If you're truly smart enough to be a successful Engineer, then there will be a job for you, no matter what/where/when.

And if you're that smart, you'll understand this logic: The jobs will always be there, but junior drum corps won't.

Before you're savaged by the little red monsters; what I think you're saying is junior drum corps won't be there as an option once this person passes the age-out date, and that's a good reason for one to march now while they can. I think someone might have thought you meant that drum corps itself was going to disappear. At least that's how I saw it. (Their reaction to what you wrote; not that I thought that.)

Edited October 25, 2012 by Michael Boo

[contraBand]

The jobs will always be there, but junior drum corps won't.

It's alright, I think I understood what you meant. That does seem to be a commonly recurring theme when I present this issue to people, and basically what I used to rationalize even auditioning this year. I have toyed with the idea of marching this summer, doing some internships, and then marching my age out; basically what Toby mentioned. That seems to be a reasonable option to me at this point.

[whitedawn]

Wait, people put drum corps on their resumes?!

[njthundrrd]

Follow your passion, and your dreams and desires will take care of themselves.

This Sir, is why I am honored to call you my friend. You "got it" then and you continue to do so.

[kdaddy]

As an engineering professor, but as someone who never marched, I'm only partly qualified to comment on this. :)

100% of the graduates in my department get jobs (perhaps not until late, and perhaps not their first choice, but they get jobs). And I'm at a university in a state where engineering jobs are perhaps a little tougher than other states, and my department is different than yours (industrial and systems engineering, which likely provides broader marketability). Many of our students get internships, and they certainly help after graduation, primarily because students end up working at one of the places where they interned. Many choose to take summer courses, do summer research, do mission work, or something else, and all have gotten jobs regardless of that internship.

I say the key to getting a job lies in how you sell yourself: synthesizing what you've learned in your courses and how knowledge can be used solve the problems associated with the position to which you're applying, syntehsizing your experiences (e.g., drum corps) and how they make you a strong candidate, etc. And another piece of advice: don't rely only on your university's career services program - go try to find other postings all across the map that interest you and apply to them (cast a wide net to improve your chances of getting offers since you haven't tested the waters with an internship).

I say, in my unprofessional opinion... GO MARCH. Maintain a high GPA. Don't remember everything you learned in class, but remember that you learned it. And change your major... :)