I have had nothing but joy for being a music major in college. But, there are also times when it feels like I've never left high school. Here are 19 reasons why:
1. All of our classes are in the same building.
Music majors don't get the joy freshman year to discover campus as we bounce from gen ed to gen ed. We stay in the music building for most of the day. Some students go a whole semester without taking a class in another department. When we leave the comfort of our beloved music building, we feel like a fish out of water. The good news is we will never be late for a class that starts ten minutes after the last one got out.
2. We have lockers - and we still complain about where they are located.
Be honest with yourself, if you had to carry around any form of instrument, wouldn't you want a place to store it? Now and on top of that all your textbooks, sheet music, backpack, and the possible OTHER instruments you are learning to play. Yeah, you would want a locker too. And just like in high school, music major are scrambling to get the best ones. No one wants a locker on the second floor, away from all the ensemble rooms. That just means more stairs. And you better get to Instrument Control early if your want a space big enough to fit your guitar, trombone, and djembe drum.
3. Our classes, meet three, four, or even five times a week.
Like in high school, some classes meet the whole week.
4. Which means we take a lot of classes in a given day.
Remember in high school when you had classes back-to-back-to-back to back the entire day? Yeah, that's what we do in college. So don't be surprised when we tell you we had five classes today.
5. Which means we can have some LOOOONNNG days.
Almost ever music major can say they've had a semester that went from 8 or 9 in the morning to 4 p.m. or later. And that is not including night rehearsals, attending concerts, and extracurricular activities.
6. You see your classmates ALL. THE. TIME.
There is no escaping the fact that you are going to have classes with the same people. Especially in the first two years when everyone has to take music theory, history, and aural skills.
7. And that isn't helped by the fact our classes tend to be small.
My very first class my freshman year was Music Fundamentals, with a class roster of about 20 people. It felt like English class back home. In my four years here as a student, only three of my music classes have filled a lecture hall, and that still seats about 100 people.
8. There are still cliques...
The vocalists hang out with the vocalists. The flute studio is always together. The jazz majors have an unspoken spot in the practice room wing. Sounds like the high school lunch room, right?
9. ... and stereotypes abound.
Trumpet players have big egos.Singers don't know how to count. And double reed players just tend to be... odd.
10. THE DRAMA
Since we are such a small department, everyone knows who everyone is. There is always loads of gossip going around the school of music. You have your standard music stuff, like who got into what ensemble, what section blew it at rehearsal today. But, there is also the same old stuff you heard when you were 16; who's dating who, who got drunk at the party last weekend, and what professors are crazy unfair.
11. We don't get to pick and chose our teachers.
In my high school, you were handed a schedule with very little say in it, including the teachers. As a music major, we schedule because there are classes we have to take and can't be choosy in the professors we have. There is only one person who teaches Choral Education Methods, so you're kind of stuck. Same thing goes with our general education credits. If it fits in our schedule between all our music classes, rehearsals, and lessons, we don't always have the option to find the best score at RateMyProfessor.
12. There are still have pep rallies (sorta).
In music school it's called convocation. The whole school gets together on certain days, but in our cases, it's to listen to live music or a lecture.
13. If one person is sick, EVERYONE IS SICK!
In high school, remember how if the kid sitting next to you in science had a cold, two days later you got it too? And then you would give it to your best friend, who gave it to the rest of the debate team? Same thing happens in music school. We are a giant cesspool of germs. And it doesn't help that there's an increase of salvia going around thanks to some instruments.
14. We use pencil on all of our assignments.
Doing a math assignment in pen in high school is a big no-no. Same goes for music theory class. The common ground: you will make a mistake somewhere and have to erase it. You also never use pen is in a musical score. You just don't.
15. There is very little nutritional value to our lunch.
If you get a chance to eat that is. Sometimes your scarfing down what you can between classes. People do try to pack their lunches, but as broke college students, that can still turn out to be Ramen. At WMU, music majors still get excited for pizza day, when one of the student organizations sells pizza before convocation.
16. Football games are still a form of weekend entertainment.
But it's only because you or a close friend are in the marching band. But it's all worth it for the half time show.
17. We still take terrifying exams.
That fear you experienced during the SATs, knowing that this one moment would determine your academic career for the rest of your life? We do that very semester; it's called a jury. We get to take them on top of our regular exams. And don't even get us started on Sophomore Hearings and Recital Hearings.
18. There are endless moments of hate and self doubt...
High school me: Why am I here for eight hours a day? I hate the government for making me do this. Math is so pointless, why am I here? I'll never get into a good college anyway.
College me: Why am I here for 12 hours a day? I hate myself for choosing music. I'm not ready for my lesson! Did I practice piano today? Who cares it, won't sound good anyway. Let's be real, I'll probably end up flipping burgers for the rest of my life and have to sell my clarinet in order to eat.
19. ... and time of joy and inspiration.
In both high school and college, it's the little things that help you make it through. In high school it might have been the chance to eat lunch with your friends, that one teacher that you loved, or the joy of knowing you get to go home at the end of the day. The same holds true for music school. You look forward to playing in your ensemble, taking a class that inspires you, or any reminder that you get to create music every single day and will for the rest of your life.
