Posted by Mark K on November 18, 2000 at 10:29:48:
In Reply to: Marine Band vs. College posted by Matt on November 17, 2000 at 23:40:17:
Matt,
I see several people giving you some advice, but not a lot of experience. I graduated high school in 1990 in WI. I tried for 8 music scholarships and was awarded all 8, to include Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and some others. I also had been "accepted" into the Marine Corps band. I selected the Marine Corps band. I look back at that decision as the LARGEST mistake of my life, bar none. If I gave you all the particulars, we'd be here all day and I'd probably need a patent for this post....But, here goes. To apply, all I needed to do was perform (on tape) and hand it over to my recruiter. Here's where the first potentially giant mistake was made and I'm sure their practice is the same today. They sent me to the MEPS )military enlistment processing center) in Minneapolis, MN for what I thought was to be signed up and physically tested to enter the "MEOP" (music enlistment option program). What it turned out to be was a seriously-high pressure sales pitch by highly ranked people to get me to enlist under a "very prestigious" military occupation (avionics) and I could just "wait" for the results of the audition tape. I could just be "switched" over upon my acceptance. I told them I didn't want to do that. They didn't listen. They went so far as to allow me to call my mother (at age 17) and explain to her the benefits of enlisting now (in a military sort of style). They said they would give me privacy and left the room. Well, they left the room alright, but stopped in the hallway to listen to my every word. How do I know? Because the recruiter upon my return home seemed to know everything I said. Well, to make an extremely long story a little shorter, I subsequently was accepted into the Marine Corps field band and the MEOP and was sent to San Diego, CA for basic training. Oh wait, have you been told this part? Let me explain....you go to the same 13 week recruit training as all the other "grunts"!!! What fun. The most miserable experience of your life that I can not begin to explain here. Oh, and wait, don't let me forget the type of treatment you'll receive when the DI (drill instructor) finds out that you're going to be a member of the "fruity-patooty" silly-boy band. You'll do more situps and pushups than you ever thought imaginable. As you go through the immunization and other processing lines, they'll ask you a question that will seriously (AT)#(AT)$ you off "do you play an instrument"? I never asked the meaning of that question, but am pretty sure what it meant...this field band was not quite as prestigious as I thought...So, you graduate and come home for 2 weeks to see all your friends laugh at your cleanly-shaven head, just to go right back for more training. Then, you'll most likely be sent to Little Creek, VA for 40 weeks of the US Armed Forces School of Music where you will work from dawn to dusk, wishing very much you had simply taken the seemingly easy decision to go to The Lawrence University Conservatory of Music and spent the last year looking at 18-year old godesses. It's your decision ultimately, but unless you get the world handed to you on a silver platter (aka President's Own), don't do it. You'll regret it. I can put it no more simply than that.
p.s. I'm now in law enforcement and play in a community band, pretty happy.....always wondering what if.........