Graduated with one B.A. in General Music degree hoping to go to another school for a second bachelors to have a better chance at landing a job/carrer. Except financial aid is getting denied, loans might not work the way I want it to, and I think the credit union, wheras I pay four monthly payments, requrie all sorts of shit in person.
Leaving option B of returning home, earning money up for another year, take a crack at the music scholarship there and clean house (by the time I applied, the scholarship money was all gone nothanks to a new Marching Band program a whole heap of people auditioned for and double auditioned for the scholarships).
Meaning I’ll have to find a job in my area, which may or may not happen, ha.
So I thought about the Army Band. I have a few buds that went through it, said it was a good gig for a few years. Enlist, go through Basics, don’t suck, go to Army Band School in VA, graduate, fulfill enlistment service, previous school loans get paid, I’ll have better chances at whatthefuck ever afterwards.
So it’s either A) One year off from school, secure a job, raise up for next semester. or B) Army Band.
Please tell me why option B) would be a bad idea, besides “It’s the Army.” and “The Goverment ownz You” type deal.
(Note: Totally listening to Ben Folds Five “Army” right now)
B could be a bad idea because you would need to spend 4 years in the service, whereas it in A it seems like you would be spending six months to a year working.
Also, how does one go about getting into the army band - Do you need to audition after you’ve joined the service?
I’ve heard military band is very hard to get into, at least here in Canada. If you have the chops for it I would go with that. It would be an interesting experience that not every one gets to go through. The only bad thing I can think of is what was already mentioned: the four year commitment. If you can swing that you’d get to play music for a living and get your loans paid for at the same time. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.
Infonick, who’s in the Marines, is probably the best person to talk to about this. But here are my thoughts:
Joining the military is something I’ve thought about as well. its a guaranteed job and housing, and prestigious on your record once your enlistment is up. However, I’ve been posting about this in forums and I’ve heard the same thing: being an enlisted man sucks if you have any imagination or introversion in your character. There’s no privacy, its like being in a dorm all the time, you constantly have to pay attention to your physical surroundings and keep things orderly(which videogame dorks like us are generally bad at), you have to take orders from people who often aren’t as intelligent as you and often mean-spirited, and follow rules and procedures that are sometimes stupid and nonsensical. And you generally get shit on; the system is basically designed to shit on enlisted men. But they all said they also felt the experience gave them discipline and “character” later on in life…
Anyway Info, is that accurate or bullshit, or somewhere in between?
I also expect it has a great deal to do with what job you go into, so I’d expect being in the band would probably be a better experience than, say, being in the infantry. In the army band, you’d probably meet people similar to the types you knew in your college music department. But you probably already figured that out…
zeppelin: that could be a whole different thread… which of course gives me an idea.
Don’t want to teach. I’ve seen way to many people get their spirits and musicianship destroyed from having to maintain a band director spot in my region from having to teach kids for various reasons. Plus as hard as it is to land a teaching gig lately, it’s not worth the extra two or so years going through the School of Education. My campus’s SoE is pretty fucky at that.
I think the course of action, according to my Army Band friends, is to enlist as a reserve, go through six weeks or so of Basics, don’t fuck up, then go to VA for music school or whatever they do there.
My current degree (B.A. in Music) is like that Avenue Q song, “What Do You Do With A B.A. in English.” So going for a second bachelor’s as an add-on would’ve been supplemental. The faculty at said-second-school thought it was a pretty good idea, since it would be a) a job and b) wouldn’t have to shell out so fucking much money for a Master’s program. Also, if it came to it years later if everything would’ve gone as plan (ho ho ho, how often do we hear that) I would’ve had a better chance at landing a Graduate Assistantship somewhere.
I’ll get a good start since I’m proficient at keyboards and already have a B.A. Talked to some Army Band buds over the last few days about it; i’m starting to get pumped for it.
Actually, I’m in the Army now, I’m a Second Lieutenant now (soon to be first). It only sucks if your leadership sucks or if you have a hard time following orders. The system isn’t designed to shit on enlisted men, especially high ranking enlisted men. Like for me, I actually enjoyed being enlisted more since it was easy. Wake up, go to work on time, eat, and have fun. All expenses paid, so all the money you make is “fun” money. Like when we go out to the field I sleep in the same conditions as my enlisted guys, but work twice as long. For the single lower enlisted who live in the barracks, it is quite a bit like living in a dorm (luckily I no longer have to do this). Boot camp really isn’t that bad, so it isn’t really an issue. If you are half way in shape, you’ll be good. Also, the whole keeping things nice is something you get used too. Guys in the military are big gamers, so it is all good.
Also, infantry isn’t that bad. My unit is an artillery unit, but we recently converted to an infantry unit for a deployment to Iraq and it is pretty cool. I’m the Platoon Leader of a 26 man platoon and it is a lot of work, but very rewarding.
Also looking into the Air Force, will report on that when I talk to the recruiters. From the looks of it, I might be eligible to be a Band Officer because I already have a degree. Looking into that…
Still got a bit less than half a year and I’m about to be deployed away from the borders. Supposedly the last stretch will be easier, but I won’t be counting my chickens yet.
