How are you spending your summer?

--or-- Worlds Colliding!

While our campus isn't as vibrant with student activity as it is during the standard academic year, I've still got fairly regular contact with students; some are on campus for summer session, others are members of my program board or fraternity with whom I stay in touch. A common thread for many over the summer--as it is for many, but fewer, during the school year--is that they are working. For some, it's merely what one does during the summer, but for all it's a way to earn money, be it towards personal luxuries, necessities, or the cost of attending school.

If you don't know me personally, you may not be aware that I am a self-professed band nerd (this is where I plug the other blog). For me, that means that summer means drum corps season, specifically Drum Corps International. For those who are unfamiliar, the corps that make up DCI comprise up to 150 brass players, percussionists and color guard members who tour the country competing against other corps for approximately eight weeks each summer. Most of the more prominent corps are made up of members from across the country, typically also members of their high school and college marching bands. While the numbers of those participating in World Class (the highest level of competition) corps number just better than 3,000 nationwide, with most participants aged 17-21, these are our students.

While I enjoy DCI from an entertainment aspect, the student development piece is certainly not lost on me. Each of the participants is engaging in leadership, teamwork, progress towards a common goal, and a quest for excellence, and to a person, drum corps participants would tell you that it is an experience unlike any other. Add to that the continuing of arts education, and drum corps is truly an exercise in student learning.

Herein lies the rub: It doesn't come cheap. The average cost for drum corps participants is just north of $3,000 per summer, which says nothing of possible private lessons or other opportunities that have been undertaken throughout their lives to get them to the level of competing at a World Class level. While various scholarships and programs are available for to offset and reduce costs, there is another piece of the puzzle that isn't told: Remember those students I mentioned to you that spend their summers working? Those who dedicate their summers to marching don't have that opportunity. This means that even if the costs of corps tuition can be met, drum corps may still exclude those who need to work over the summer to afford school or otherwise make ends meet. Sadly, participation in the activity is simply not accessible to everyone.

When we look at what we offer in student affairs, so often the opportunities we provide are free (or "free" as they may be student fee funded). While this helps our students, it is only one piece of the puzzle. What do our students have to give up to participate in our programs? Are we able to make it worth their time? Or do we find ourselves catering solely to the students who can "afford" it?