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Hey Everyone I need some advice. This may not sound like a big deal, but it's a big deal to me. I'm not looking for sympathy, and I'm not saying that this is like a life and death decision. Please do not come at me with hate. I just need some opinions and thoughts. . All comments are welcome. If you don't have anything nice to say then please don't say anything at all. . Some background: I am currently in band in my high school. I play percussion, and I march tenors for marching band. I love band, and I enjoy it. While I was in middle school, I took horseback riding lessons. I had always wanted to be an equestrian and my dream was to be on a college equestrian team. I started lessons and did them for about two years. Then I stopped because I was getting too frustrated with myself. I didn't feel like I was doing well or making any progress. I've been out of lessons for about a year and a half now. During that time, I really started to focus on band. . Now the decision I have to make: I have wanted to get back into equestrianism for a while now. I really miss it. I miss the thrill of it. The problem is that I'm in a band that takes things very seriously. We have after school practices every Tuesday and Thursday. Another problem is that this upcoming school year, I will have harder classes. I already stress myself out so much about my grades. I don't need to do both band and equestrianism on top of keeping up good grades. So I have to choose. I either continue band throughout my high school, or I drop band and pick up horseback riding lessons again. . You remember how I said that I quit horseback riding lessons cause of my stress and frustration? It would make sense that I wouldn't want to do lessons again since I already quit once. Well, I get frustrated and stressed out about anything I do. You have no idea how many times band has stressed me out. I know I will get frustrated with myself many times if I start horseback riding lessons again, but it's just natural for me to stress out about everything. I don't know if I could power through the stress and frustration of horseback riding lessons, but I feel like if it's what I really wanted to do then I could stick with it. . Do these activities have anything to do with college, you ask? Yes, they do. Like I said, my dream was to be on a college equestrian team. When I stopped horseback riding lessons and focused on band, my new dream was to be in a college marching band. Now, I've decided that I don't want to do band in college. Yes, this decision can change, but for now that's what I've decided. Back to horseback riding lessons. So, it's a little late for me to learn and compete enough to be able to make a college team. But I've discussed with my mother that I could possibly be on an intramural equestrian team in college. . I love band, and I've put a lot of time and effort into it, and my parents have put a lot of money into it too. But I'm just not sure if it's what I want to stick with through high school. My mother will support me either way, but I feel like I'd be letting her down if I decided to drop band. I think she feels like I'm coming out of nowhere with this equestrianism talk. I think she thinks that I don't really want to quit band for horseback riding lessons. . I don't know what I want to do though. I have to decide soon so that I can tell my band director before band camp if I decide to drop out of band. . I hope that made sense. If you have questions or if something is unclear, please don't hesitate to ask me about it. . Alright, you have the story. You know what to do now. |
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If you really want to do horseback riding Go for it! I would suggest dropping band (for now) to try something different, get a change. |
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Hurricane Blizzards, thanks :) |
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Lightbringer
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Maybe try horse back riding over the summer. (I'm not sure what band is like, so I don't know if they take a break over the summer), and perhaps that'll help you figure it out |
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Sir Froggington, my mother suggested that, and it's a good idea. Band does have band camp over the summer, but it's only two weeks. The problem though is that I have a very busy summer ahead of me right up until school starts. I don't know if I'll have enough time to do a trial period over the summer. |
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Prythian Alright, here's my my two cents. I was in High school band as well. Spent one semester on bass drum and every semester other from 6th grade to graduation on clarinet. I was hard core too! Trying out for state, district, solos, all that jazz. (Actually... everything except jazz band. XD) But Junior year, I moved to a new state. The program was more demanding there, but I just didn't have the wills or desire to pull my weight there and stay on top of school and do the things that made me happy. Upon graduating, I wished I would have quit as soon as i realized that the passion for band was gone. I wasted time, money, and effort on reeds, practices, and fees for a class that gave me 0 in return. What it boils down to? you may feel flaky for dropping band. But youre not. If you want to switch, do it! Just be fully committed to whatever you do! Be confident and jump all in. It will suck at first, to miss some elements of band, and to feel out of step (ah, see what i did there) with the equestrian team, but just be willing to be flexible and you'll be fine! |
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Lightbringer
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Prythian Could you manage a lesson once a week or every other week? |
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Saguaro, you were on marching mass too? That's so cool! I get what you're saying. I don't usually try out for honor bands, district, or anything like that. I have to be forced to do it. I also don't always have the will or desire to practice or get better more often than not. I'm lazy when it comes to band sometimes. Maybe a change is what I need. Thank you so much for your advice! |
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Frogginton, I might could do lessons for the rest of June, but we first would have to find a stables that offers what I want and that has a good reputation and blah blah blah. |
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Lightbringer
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Prythian ohhh yeah. that's a challenge |
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Fall Month: 1 
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