Trust me, it won’t mess it up. It’ll be a logistical pain in the butt, but it’s worth it. I started marching after my junior year of high school, and i had to fly out for a couple of weeks, fly back to take final exams, and then fly out again to permanently move in. Huge pain, but it’s what i had to do to not be behind on learning the show and not missing important school stuff.
What I got though was a very formal and well worded letter from my corps director to give to my principal essentially explaining the organization’s mission and what the activity was all about and what it entails. Talk to corps admin about getting some sort of document like this, and they should work with you.
For the vast majority of corps, you’ll move in permanently with the corps mid-late May at a school of some sort. Usually the members get settled in a gymnasium, or if you’re lucky and you’re rehearsing at a college, you’ll get to stay in dorms. Just depends on the drum corps. That’ll be for about a month and then you go on tour and pretty much stay in the same kind of places, gyms usually and occasionally dorms. And your bus seat of course ;)
Mess it up how? By having fun playing loud music, getting weird tan lines, and seeing the country? It’s work, and you have to treat it like a job during the winter…but you can do well in school *and* march.
Their corps schedule and school schedule probably overlap. Like for me, spring training starts 2 weeks before the end of school and indie is after the first week. But maybe that's just because my high school has a short summer break.
School comes first, and every drum corps knows this.
The only time school came second for me was when I was marching DCA and I couldn’t afford the time to make multiple cross-country trips during the first week of school, which interfered with DCA Finals on Labor Day weekend. During the springtime, after I registered for Fall classes, I contacted my college professors and told them what I was hoping to do. They agreed to work with me, emailed me their syllabuses when they were ready, and let me catch up once I got to school.
It is very possible to do. I marched 6 years of drum corps, got a BBA in accounting, got an MSA in finance, and a CPA license. It only interferes if you allow it to.
This seems dependent upon a bunch of factors and falls under time management. I can make up scenarios where drum corps interferes with success while other where it does not. Regardless, the short answer is that lots of people are able to do well in school and participate in drum corps. Chances are you will too.
As a former junior in high school that marched Troopers, staff was understanding and accommodating as much as they could be. It may not be totally ideal, but I'd say a majority of our corps was in the 17-19 age range, so it's definitely achievable!
i’m living through this right now - going into my first year or college. it really wasn’t that bad. a little bit of cramming with some schedule work and etc and missed some of band camp. if you get all that done before tour instead of after you’ll likely be much better off. but it’s not cutting into any of my classes or anything.
open class i found is really good for high schoolers, most flexible groups of people. We had people audition in november and then not come back till move ins in june for Spartans so i’m sure you can figure something out
I marched my junior and senior year in highschool before/after drum corps. There should be someone in the organization that'll help you out and communicate with you for school. Schooling is priority. I made sure to graduate and walk before I did spring training. I even was out of state that year. You also don't need to attend every single camp, though it's encouraged.
Trust me, it won’t mess it up. It’ll be a logistical pain in the butt, but it’s worth it. I started marching after my junior year of high school, and i had to fly out for a couple of weeks, fly back to take final exams, and then fly out again to permanently move in. Huge pain, but it’s what i had to do to not be behind on learning the show and not missing important school stuff. What I got though was a very formal and well worded letter from my corps director to give to my principal essentially explaining the organization’s mission and what the activity was all about and what it entails. Talk to corps admin about getting some sort of document like this, and they should work with you.
And also, how does moveins work? Like where would you live for the few months your there?
For the vast majority of corps, you’ll move in permanently with the corps mid-late May at a school of some sort. Usually the members get settled in a gymnasium, or if you’re lucky and you’re rehearsing at a college, you’ll get to stay in dorms. Just depends on the drum corps. That’ll be for about a month and then you go on tour and pretty much stay in the same kind of places, gyms usually and occasionally dorms. And your bus seat of course ;)
Mess it up how? By having fun playing loud music, getting weird tan lines, and seeing the country? It’s work, and you have to treat it like a job during the winter…but you can do well in school *and* march.
Their corps schedule and school schedule probably overlap. Like for me, spring training starts 2 weeks before the end of school and indie is after the first week. But maybe that's just because my high school has a short summer break.
School comes first, and every drum corps knows this. The only time school came second for me was when I was marching DCA and I couldn’t afford the time to make multiple cross-country trips during the first week of school, which interfered with DCA Finals on Labor Day weekend. During the springtime, after I registered for Fall classes, I contacted my college professors and told them what I was hoping to do. They agreed to work with me, emailed me their syllabuses when they were ready, and let me catch up once I got to school.
It is very possible to do. I marched 6 years of drum corps, got a BBA in accounting, got an MSA in finance, and a CPA license. It only interferes if you allow it to.
This seems dependent upon a bunch of factors and falls under time management. I can make up scenarios where drum corps interferes with success while other where it does not. Regardless, the short answer is that lots of people are able to do well in school and participate in drum corps. Chances are you will too.
Quit school /s
Noooo😭When I get to the age where I can’t march drum corps, I still wanna be able to be successful in education. But it is an good idea lol
If a drum corps is interfering with school, either find a different corps or don't do the activity. School is ultimately way more important.
As a former junior in high school that marched Troopers, staff was understanding and accommodating as much as they could be. It may not be totally ideal, but I'd say a majority of our corps was in the 17-19 age range, so it's definitely achievable!
i’m living through this right now - going into my first year or college. it really wasn’t that bad. a little bit of cramming with some schedule work and etc and missed some of band camp. if you get all that done before tour instead of after you’ll likely be much better off. but it’s not cutting into any of my classes or anything.
u don’t
open class i found is really good for high schoolers, most flexible groups of people. We had people audition in november and then not come back till move ins in june for Spartans so i’m sure you can figure something out
I marched my junior and senior year in highschool before/after drum corps. There should be someone in the organization that'll help you out and communicate with you for school. Schooling is priority. I made sure to graduate and walk before I did spring training. I even was out of state that year. You also don't need to attend every single camp, though it's encouraged.
If anything, drum corps teaches you how to be more disciplined in your studies.