by Kirsten Kraus | feature editor

Tears fill her eyes as she pictures the sixth grader who picked up the instrument for the first time, the freshman at her first marching band rehearsal and the senior walking the stage at graduation. Senior Sarah Rodriguez takes one last look before closing the case, for what could be the last time.”Music is something I’ve worked at for so long and I’ve put a lot of effort I it so it’ll be nice to just have a break for little bit,” Rodriguez said.

Many students decide to leave their musical talents behind when they go college, not because they don’t like it, but because they want to pursue other interests.

“I’m going to study physiology so I’m just gonna dedicate all my time towards that and make sure my grades are good and I’m doing good academically in college,” Rodriguez said. “Mr. Lipman has always taught us to be passionate about whatever we choose to do in life, and I just don’t think that perusing band in college is a good idea for me because I’m not as passionate as I should be about it, like he is.”

However, there are some students who aren’t ready to give up music completely, and are choosing to continue on the side.

“I’m going to do band in college, but only on the side. Im looking to be a part of one of their concert bands. I’ve been playing the french horn since sixth grade and I love it, so I’m not willing to give it up that easily. I’ve worked hard to be where I am, and I want to continue to play and get better in college, even if I’m not going to pursue it as a career.”

There are various types of band in college, each a different level of competitiveness, so students have the option in which they want to participate in.

“At Hardin-Simmons, I’m going to be in the cowboy band, which is the marching band there. Its not a marching band like we have, but its more of a parade band. Ive been playing trumpet for a while now, so I don’t want to just give it up,” senior Hannahlaine Ingham said.

In addition, there are other ways for students to continue band after high school, even if it’s not directly through college.

“I’m not doing band in college, but I’m going to be a part of a drum corp. I’m going to take private lessons in college, but I won’t be a part of the actual college band, senior Johanna Lawrence said. “College band doesn’t have the same competitive aspect that Johnson does that I’ve come to love. Drum corps are professional marching bands and they compete like high school marching band, just on a more challenging level.

Not all students doing band in college will major in it or pursue it as a career, but the ones that do will are faced with a time consuming task.

“I’m majoring in music performance in college,” senior Evan Bright said. “The application process to get into the music schools this like ten times harder than what it would usually be. when you apply there are multiple steps and usually you have to fill out two applications, one for the music school and one for the actual college. And on top of that you have to schedule auditions and worry about getting there on time and what you’re playing for the auditions, so its actually a lot of time management. It is kinda scary because there are very limited jobs , so you have to work really hard at it.”