Working for the Cause

I worked all day today for free...once again. I judged tubas at all state auditions and didn't make a dime. The thing was I looked around and many, many other people were doing the same thing. What most people don't realize is that we band directors work for free much of the time. I have been told before "At least you get paid to be here". One time I figured out exactly how much I make an hour from my extra pay for being a band director. It was shocking and discouraging so I didn't do it again. Something like less than $2 hour! I can't think of any other job where people work days upon days for free either. The neat thing is that I am not alone in it. I see all the other band directors doing that same thing and most of the time I see the same ones. I can remember when I was "one of the young" ones. Not so anymore. I see the same faces many places I go and it is strange in that we, band directors, are kind of like a band ourselves. We may not all know each other very well. We not even really like each other all that well. We may have some very close friends in the group too, but we all respect what we do because we know we all need each other to be successful. Kind of like a good band. We, DF, had 10 students audition today for all state and at this moment I don't know how they did. I can say I am bit disappointed that only one of the them worked with me on sightreading at all. I am not sure why either. I have judged all state auditions for more years than I can count, so I have a pretty good grasp on how it works and what kind of stuff they might see. It was their choice to stay for help or not. I am just kind of sad that only one stayed for help. Oh well. Maybe in time the students will build a bit of trust in me. We shall see.

Back to working for the Cause. It seems there must be something a bit more about this band thing other than a job. So many people put in so many hours to make it all work for no pay. Maybe it is just because it makes us feel like we belong to something bigger than all of us are as individuals. I treat all the band kids like they were my own. In many ways they are to me. I know a lot of other band directors that feel the same way. They are the ones that make it. By that I mean I see many come and go but there is always that same core of us that always wave to each other and say hi. I have to say that core is becoming smaller. I see many new band directors for a year or two and then they just disappear. It is a terrible amount of work and time and certainly takes us away from home a lot but in the end it seems to be worth it do something that is bigger than just each one of us alone.