This is a hard one for me. Both my parents were music majors, one of my best friends from high school is a music major, and my sister is a music major. I am also decently involved in my university’s School of Music. I see how busy the music majors are, running from rehearsal to rehearsal, doing tons of work for each of their half-credit courses. I get from a purely academic standpoint, more is required out of a music major.
What angers me is when music majors imply they do more “work” than others, since their official school schedules have more activities (class and rehearsals) on them.
The issue is these music majors think less of the activities non-music majors are involved in outside of their academic requirements. And that really angers me.
Free time, hah. The culture of my campus is one of over involved students. Sure there are the kids who go to classes, go back to their room, get their homework done, and spend the rest of the night chilling (outside of when big assignments are due). (Or procrastinate and chill before cramming homework in, whichever scenario you feel is more realistic.) But no one I know. Or at least no one I know that doesn’t irritate me.
My days are filled with back-to-back classes, activities, homework, and meetings. A day that I have nothing to do or free time to actually choose when I want to do homework, does not exist except for that short beginning of semester. You know, the first half of the first week.
The things I have committed to, I devote a lot of time and energy. So when music majors get stressed and say things that imply they work harder than other students…it is greatly irritating.
I did take Musicianship and Theory last semester, which are two separate courses but are half-credit courses. And this semester I’m taking Jazz History, which is a half-credit course. Something does need to be done to remedy the fact the profs teach these as though they’re a full credit course. Only difference is they meet two hours/week instead of three. Which means you actually gain an hour of class for every two half-credit courses you take.
I feel better. Wrote this cause of something my sister said. I know she knows better, but it just came across really badly. Her statement was in fact in regards to one individual, not all non-music majors in general.