As marching band season kicks into high gear, many Hawkeyes find themselves navigating the challenging balance between academic commitments and the vibrant world of music. Here’s our students of marching band answer our questions about how they tackle this challenge.
Topher Wallerich
Major(s): 4th Year - Informatics
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
It's very much become kind of like an experience of trying to find all of the little times in the day when I can work on stuff. Just time I would usually probably not use for particularly anything. Like realizing like, oh, this is actually a very convenient time that I could get like work done instead of like having to do that like much later in the day, like at a random point. And so, finding ways to kind of make my own little schedule to do all of those things has been really helpful. And just like I said, just looking for those little pockets of time I normally wouldn't use for anything has kind of been my secret weapon this semester.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
I guess I really love calendars and having everything really like locked into my calendar, especially because what I do, like I said, working at the School of Music, I'm only one of the few part-time employees and then we have my boss and then two other full-time employees. But there's also a number of like part-timers who usually come in to go into various projects. And so, it's kind of a necessity to get use of the space to do my work. I need to schedule it. And so that's helpful for like being transparent with my coworkers, but also it's very helpful for like committing myself to like, it's like, okay, at this time of the day, I'm gonna go do this thing and that's always committing myself to that, it's just a thing and I'm not gonna be like wishy-washy about it.
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
I guess the most obvious one, because this year I'm not doing typical marching band duties, I am being an audio engineer, a recording engineer, what have you, which has been its own adventure and very enjoyable. But this honestly all really, at least this year's iteration of it, really just came about because I wasn't going to be able to march, because of obviously the penultimate class, server-side development, that one I very obviously need to take because I need to, but that coincides pretty much exactly at the same time as marching band rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And it was going to be, we have a policy of like how much students are allowed to miss class, or miss like rehearsals, particularly because they realize as like you get further along your degree track. There's only going to be so much flexibility, but because of just the timing, things were not going to work out as the professor prefers us to be in class. I wasn't really going to be able to make that work. However, the director of the marching band, Dr. Bush, was saying that if I wanted to record the band and be their audio engineer and be a part of the media team, there would be a lot more flexibility there, which through navigating all of that. I have made flexibility, and it has kind of allowed me to do both of these things. Through figuring it out, it's kind of turned into like a positive thing because now I'm kind of spearheading this new like little part of the marching band. They have not had like a professional audio engineer just kind of like at their disposable for, and so this has kind of permitted them just a lot more and a lot better audio quality. I initially was very, I was figuring all of this out in like early August and was initially very, initially admittedly quite stressed about it because like, obviously my degree is something I prioritized, but also marching band has been really the reason I came to this university.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
I mean like obviously with all sorts of like projects everybody has to carry their own weight. That is a very important part of it and often when that is lacking is when you get all of those group project horror stories. But I guess marching band is really instilled within me like the knowledge that we all kind of have to carry our own weight. Like nobody can march your spot for you. Like nobody can learn your music for you. You very much have to be self-reliant. You have to do your own job and there's no other way around that. And so, that's kind of instilled that value into me.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
I would say it pays off to show initiative and if you show that you are very heavily committed to both of these things. The people who are not necessarily in charge but like I don't know those with influence in those areas are going to see that. And I feel like people will very heavily value that because I think honestly really the reason that I am able to do what I do in the band right now and possibly do it for future years is largely because I show to both of these organizations. I care heavily about both of these things, and they are integral to my identity as a college student here at the University of Iowa. And so, I think showing that you care deeply about what you are a part of will reflect positively on people's perception of you. And so if things become difficult and managing them becomes difficult as I did with my case by showing that you do care about them people will be a lot more apt to giving you that flexibility and giving you grace because they realize that both of them are very, just your coursework and your commitments to extracurriculars or whatever they may be. They will see that those are very important, and I think that they will ultimately value them and lend you some help if that makes sense.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
Just realizing that it's a very important part of being part of a group and also just functioning in like just a larger capacity. Everybody has all of their own duties and making sure that you do those well affects not only yourself but also the organization that you are a part of larger. And I would say that has probably benefited my own mentality for working with others, especially in groups quite heavily.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
I feel like I kind of struggled with it but I did kind of enjoy HCI. Like it was interesting. I don't know if I really had the best grasp on it but I did take quite a bit of interest to it and I did appreciate being in Professor Hourcade’s class. He was quite nice and I meshed with his teaching style I think.
Logan Barr
Major(s): 4th Year - Computer Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
Marching band rehearsals on normal afternoon rehearsals are Tuesday through Friday, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Which is a big turn of time, because there's also Tuesday nights from 7-9 p.m. So the nice thing is the evening time besides Tuesday, I can, as long as I don't have a class in the way, I can kind of use that to kind of go, “Alright, what are my assignments that are coming up that I can take a look at?” and kind of go, “Alright, which language and what am I wanting to do?” And kind of use the same [method] I learned about in a previous class, like dividing, conquer, methodology of kind of going, “Alright, you got this big old chunk of thing, where are those smaller pieces I can kind of work on at like different nights?”. It's a bit of fun, a little bit stressful when it gets closer to deadline, I'm like, “I got marching band in the middle of the day”.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
My go-to strategy is keeping track of what assignments are due in order. Kind of as like, “Alright, I have three assignments. This one's to due first, then this one, and then this one”, kind of going, “or how much time do I have in between as well?” to kind of go “Alright, how am I going to prioritize?” and kind of go through and everything. There's always a number of assignments that are always kind of coming up and clarifications are made on like Piazza or something at random points. So it's like double checking when someone is asking the questions I'm wondering, or if the instructor puts something on there going, “Hey, clarification on question two”. And then if there's clarification, that can very much help in the base of, “Okay, so he means this”.
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
This one kind of goes more towards pep band, because I also did pep band, which had spring issues last semester. I went on the women's NCAA tournament trip, which took two weeks of class time. I was having constant communication with my professor going, “Hey, I'm going to miss the midterm.” And then kind of looking at group projects and kind of trying to communicate with my group members of what do you need me to do so I can make sure I'm doing it while I'm on this trip. Because I have Wi-Fi, but it's kind of a tough moment because it's like, “Alright, I have most of the day I'm doing something and the evening time [is] where I'm just in the hotel room, I got my tablet, so [I’m] going to get down and work on stuff.”
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
Yes, because everyone is on the field need to kind of listen to each other and guide with each other. Like when we're making our forms, [we] make sure we're making a form right in triangle. And then also listening to kind of make sure we're blending our sound. And in that way, [it’s] like with CS, through science group projects you have to kind of watch and see what people are putting on. “Alright, what are you putting into the repo[sitory]? Alright, what can I use from that to kind of advance? So, you put this into the assignment? Alright, let me see how I can blend that with the work I'm working on.”
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
So the main thing is time management, just because marching band is a big time commitment on its own. Also, Saturdays are not guaranteed to work on assignments either. Because every home game, we're busy for basically the whole day unless it's 11 a.m. game. Sometimes we have the evening free, but that's just sometimes. And then there's also the occasional like commitment we do where the marching band goes to like a high school or something to kind of do our own recruitment. And that's still more time management. My advice would be planning out what you're doing. If that's like, “Alright, sometime this week I'm working on this project and trying to get at least this much done, so it could be like a quarter or third.” So, I can keep moving forward and not have to be stressing about it the night before it's still. It can seem daunting to do both at the same time, but it can also be very fun. It's going to ultimately come down to how you are doing with it. Because how you're interacting with members of the band and how you're interacting with your major, [because] both are going to be very important. If you have to give up marching band and do coding, then that's going to be fine because at the end of the day, your major is going to be more important to find a career afterwards.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
Going to professors or TAs with questions or clarifications on what coding structure do they want because another thing that's also important about coding is kind of what the presentation of the code is supposed to look like. So, what words need to be capitalized [or] what words need to be lowercase? How do you have it all in one line or do you try to have it where if it's too long it goes to the next line where it's more readable? Different professors will have different kind of or different TAs will have different ideas. [They might say] that lines a little too long or there's not enough comments and kind of knowing, what is important to chat with them. And then there's also Piazza, that is very useful for different class questions that may come up because if someone else is asking the same question, it may have already been answered. Or if someone else is wondering the question you're thinking, you're also helping them.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
I had fun doing an intro to software development with Professor Goddard. I thought that was pretty fun. Basically, the way that we were kind of developing the code and going through was very nice. I also like, there was one like one part of it that my group was stumped on. Then I was like, what if I just take as bare bones, like I'm doing a step by step in the code and-- well, it works. And you know what? We love to see it working. Because at the end of the day, as long as it functions, we will get points, and we can get started on working on testing and such. And the amount of work I put in; I was so satisfied with how that came out. I can work on cleaning it after but as long as it works, we have the baseline to go with.
Molly Riepe
Major(s): 3rd Year - Data Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
Juggling my time can be a very difficult task at times, but overall planning ahead is what gets me through it all. I was incredibly strategic when it came to creating my schedule and classes for this semester so I could fit in my job, homework, club meetings, and marching band, and at the beginning of each week I always make a plan for when each of my assignments is going to get completed.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
Something that I tend to do each semester is find a groove to fall into with my classes and activities. A lot of times my classes will have weekly homeworks due on the same day each week, same with music and drill pass-offs for marching band. By getting familiar with these patterns and figuring out generally how long a given task is going to take, I can more easily plan my week.
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
This homecoming week was probably the busiest week I have ever had when it comes to academics and band. I had more homework due than usual and an abnormal amount of rehearsal and performances for band due to the homecoming festivities. To get through this week, the biggest thing I did was not give up. It sounds kind of silly, but seriously that is what got me through. It would have been so easy to let a few assignments go unfinished, but I knew that if I stuck it out until all of my work was turned in it would be so rewarding to look back at all that I accomplished during the week. I also didn't let myself lose to the fear of running out of time. There is more time in the day than you think and keeping that in mind also helped me through.
Has being in marching band shaped the way you tackle problems in your computer science work?
I think being in marching band gets me thinking about things in a different way that I usually would. All the time I feel like I'm subconsciously connecting what we're doing in band to data science even if it's in a silly way. For example, I like connecting different marching patterns to geometry, and I would love to write an algorithm that determines which uniform pieces everyone should get so that everything fits as nicely as possible. Overall it encourages me to think more in a real-world way so I don't get lost in hypothetical problems and scenarios.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
Marching band has really shown me what a great team can look like. When we learn our shows, we are assigned to groups called "squads" that consist of four total people that you generally march the whole show alongside. My squads in marching band have been some of the best people to march with because they make an effort to have fun while also providing helpful feedback and working together to make the shows great. While data science coursework is very much different from learning drill, I think the idea of having fun and forming good relationships is what creates academic success in group work. The better you understand each other the better you can work together to learn and solve problems.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
My biggest and best piece of advice is this: If you really love something, you will make time for it. This isn't to say that it will be easy, or things will magically fall into place, but if something matters to you and is so crucial to who you are, you will fight to make it happen and it will be worth so worth it. Also, don't isolate yourself even when things get busy. Sometimes I do just need to hunker down and finish an assignment, but take time to be with your friends and family. A little break from it all can go a long way
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
My calendar is truly my best friend, along with my assignment tracker I made in Notion that I customized to my liking. Even if you think you will remember when something is, you probably won't, but your calendar will always have your back.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
I think I enjoyed Discrete Structures the most out of all of my major classes I've taken so far. It was such a different subject matter from any other class I had taken before, and it's so much fun to see the connections to math and programming and statistics in my current classes.
Congratulations Molly on receiving the Arthur A. Collins Scholarship! Read more about Molly and the other 2024-25 Scholarship Award recipients.
Peter Kamp
Major(s): 3rd Year - Computer Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
Marching band time commitment is something everyone is always worried about before joining the band. In my experience with a few high school friends that I've tried to recruit to the HMB, it's the biggest reason they do not want to join marching band. And I won't lie, at times it can be a challenge, but I personally believe the time commitment is 100% worth it. For me, during marching season I tend to take 1 less class than I do during the spring (which usually means 4 rather than 5). I also just have to be more efficient with my time. Every minute outside of rehearsal is valuable and so marching band really helps you be more disciplined because you have less time to procrastinate. On average I honestly have probably done better in my classes during the fall than the Spring because marching band forces me to be more disciplined than I have to be in the Spring.
Just because you're in band doesn't mean you can't also do other things. I know plenty of band members who do clubs and activities like Dance Marathon or Greek Life, but it's an individual decision at the end of the day. Everyone needs to decide for themselves whether the time commitment for joining the HMB is worth it since it may limit your ability to do other clubs or make it harder to find time to study.
The directors are pretty forgiving with missing rehearsal time due to course conflicts. While they prefer you don't, you are allowed to miss up to 1 rehearsal per week due to pre-approved course conflicts, so this really helps especially with CS and ECE classes since they can be niche and only offered at one time slot each semester.
But like I said, the time is worth it. I think almost everyone in the band hangs out with other marching band people outside of rehearsal and many would say their best friends are in the band. There are also countless alumni who have met their partners through HMB, so the people you meet in HMB truly are lifelong friendships.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
I don't know if I have a particular strategy... Just be efficient. Don't procrastinate. For me, it helps to front load my week a bit so that the week gets easier as it goes on. For example, try to get as much of the homework for the week done on Monday-Wednesday so that Thursday and Friday can be more relaxed (especially during home game weeks).
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
Actually, the toughest balancing I've had to do was in pep band during the Spring for basketball. A little background context: The marching band and the pep band are technically separate even though they are run by the same people with a ton of overlap in the people who are in each. The Hawkeye Marching Band (~280 members) performs at the football games in the fall including a pregame and halftime show on the field during the game. The Iowa Pep Band (~200+ish members I think) performs at the home basketball games and post-season tournaments starting in October and only plays from the stands (as opposed to being on the court/ field). For post-season basketball tournaments, only 30 people are allowed to be in the travel band per NCAA rules.
The last two years, I've been fortunate enough to be selected to travel as part of the 30-member pep band with the women's basketball team all the way from the Sweet 16 to the National Championship game in the NCAA tournament. These were some of the best experiences of my life, but there is always a catch... For the 2023 season, travel plans were very much WIP almost until the day we left which made things very interesting to plan around. I don't think we found out until Monday afternoon that we were going to be leaving on Wednesday morning and on top of that, we get a message from the directors stating that we may fly directly to Dallas from Seattle should the team make it to the Final Four. This means that we have 3 days to plan to be gone for somewhere between a minimum of 3 days and a potential maximum of nearly 2 full weeks right in the middle of the semester. As you can imagine, this was a bit of a logistical nightmare when it came to packing for the trip, and especially when it came to classwork and exams. I ended up finishing all my homework for the rest of the week and taking 2 exams in those 3 days leading up to the trip. The second week, I delayed another exam and a couple homework assignments until after I got back.
In the end, I was able to make it work but I was playing catch up until almost the end of the semester. It's not just about the work piling up, it's about the knowledge... In some of my classes, the lectures were almost useless to me since I didn't know what was going on after not attending lectures for a few weeks. I was lucky enough to have professors who were understanding and willing to allow me to turn in work late and not attend lectures for those 2 weeks, but I know of a few other people who were not as lucky. One of my friends had a lab class that he could not skip because the lab reports had to be turned in in-person, so he was unable to go to the final four and national championship game because he had 1 class he had to show up to for like 10 minutes.
If I had to go back and decide whether or not to go on the trip knowing how much work I would be in for after I got back, I would go again in a heartbeat. In fact, I kind of did, since it was the same scenario for the 2024 NCAA tournament. Luckily since we'd been through the same thing the year before, the planning went much smoother with more notice, and I was able to balance my work much easier the second time around.
For band, I have been in some less-than-ideal situations regarding classwork, but I always have found a way to make it work because being in band is important to me. I personally believe that if an activity or club is really that important to you, you'll find a way to make it work with schoolwork.
Has being in marching band shaped the way you tackle problems in your computer science work?
Other than changing when I work on things and how long I have to spend on them, I don't really think HMB has changed how I approach any individual problems too much. However, I have met a few older CS and ECE majors who I have been able to ask for help and advice which has been super valuable.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
You have a shared sense of community and comradery between everyone in the band, so even if you don't know someone all that well, you have some common ground. This connection can lead to finding a group to work with in your classes easier.
Fun fact: Engineering is the second largest major represented in the HMB behind music majors, but dozens of different majors are represented across every college at the University. My point is that even if you don't directly benefit in a group project in a particular class, HMB people are very diverse and can be helpful in meeting people who you otherwise would not have the opportunity to meet. And even if you somehow don't find people in HMB to be friends with or work on a project with, they can introduce you to people they know who are not band members themselves.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
It's very important, I think, to find a structured activity you really enjoy. It doesn't matter what it is: Marching band, robotics, mock trial, intramurals. Having this commitment to something like that will keep you honest when it comes to studying so you don't end up procrastinating your time away. But more importantly, these activities introduce you to people outside of your particular major who you may never have met under ordinary circumstances. This repeated exposure allows you to make deeper connections that just talking to someone before a class for 5 minutes twice a week.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
I add important things to my calendar on my phone and set notification reminders
Get out of your dorm or apartment and find a place you like to study. This will make you more efficient and less likely to get distracted.
The engineering tutoring center and math tutorial lab are very helpful for the first and second-year engineering and math classes. They will be able to save you hours a week on homework because rather than sitting there confused for a long time, the tutors can help you find the answer quicker without just straight up telling you the answer, so you are still learning the content effectively. I'm sure this applies for the other tutoring services on campus as well, I'm just not familiar with them personally.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
So far, I've really been taking core classes and haven't had many electives, but I really enjoyed Software Design. The projects were time consuming and sometimes tedious, but I generally thought they were interesting and felt like the content of the class was extremely relevant to my career. I'm looking forward to some of the technical electives I will be taking in the upcoming semesters.
Aaron Hochgraber
Major(s): 3rd Year - Computer Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
I do my best to do what I want to get done before or after rehearsals, because at rehearsals, I'm just there. Rehearsals are only Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and then on Tuesday we have a double rehearsal from seven to 9 pm so that day. I don't really get anything done with homework that much, but every other day, I get done at 5:30 get back to my apartment, make dinner and work on whatever I need to get done. But being my third year, now, I kind of figured out the whole flow, because I know my freshman year was kind of all over the place, but I kind of figured out.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
I now just kind of do a system of what needs to get done in the day. And typically, I'll look ahead to next week to see what kind of project I need to get done. And if I'm in a group project, I try to communicate as best as possible with my group members on who's doing what, and just the strategy of just trying to get what I need to get done in the day. I have a planner on my phone with a calendar app for iPhones, and I have all my classes and their times in there. And then I try to look for times where I have breaks to, just do something quickly or sit down and study for something.
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
I think just the entire semester is a tough balance, because it's a tough commitment. I mean, one of my friends and I just planned it out where it's about 10 hours a week [where] we're not able to really do anything. And then that doesn't include a game day to where, if it's a game day, [it's] an all-day thing...I just do the best that I can to stay organized throughout my week.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
I do see, I do see some connections between that. In my section there are about 19 people this year. Some years it's been 22 last year was 18. And so just kind of figuring out [how to] take leadership and ownership of if I messed up on this and how can I fix it later. It’s something I've learned in high school and never really learned that whole much about [prior]. But now with group projects, if I messed up on this part, or my code isn't quite right, let me, I'll fix it best I can for next time, and you guys can look it over. But that's just kind of the main things I've learned so far, just taking ownership and learning how to fix your mistakes.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
My only tip is just kind of stick with it. If you really want to do it, you kind of just want to stick with it, even though it's going to be challenging sometimes. If you're not completely sure, you're not completely 100%, with that whole conflict with times and not having as much time as everyone else will determine whether or not you want to stick with it. But I advise you just stick with it as best as you can.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
Chatting with your peers about any stressors like if there's a big deadline coming up. And if I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it, I would talk with my section leaders about not going to rehearsal one day to finish the project, which they're more than okay with, as long as it's just the day before a game day. That's the one thing they kind of crack down on—people showing up—because it's the final prep before you perform. Just communication with other members saying, "I'm not going to be here, because I got this and this.” And that's why it's helpful to talk with pH, because as a freshman, there's a lot going into it. There's a lot of people who were fourth years who are towards the end of their whole college cycle, and they have a lot of advice you just give whether or not they're in the same major years major you are in because there was a time, and there's plenty of time and you were in the same position as they were.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
I liked little, little bit of an interesting one, but I did, I did like CS to the data structures and algorithms. I had a different professor who was in it for one semester. So I kind of got it, got it good for one semester compared to others and so, but I like that one the most because, I just learned, and it was also a little bit of a challenge too, that I kind of liked where we coded in Java, and never done before. We’d just always worked with Python. And so there would be weekends where I would go to the library when it first opened and spend hours just teaching myself Java. I still don't know it that much after all that time, but I liked it because it gave me a challenge to do, and I overcame that challenge and got a decently good score in the class. And so, it's just my most favorite one I've had so far.
Tyler Kennedy
Major(s): 2nd Year - Computer Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
With marching band taking up two hours most days, (four hours on Tuesdays and no rehearsals on Mondays), it limits the time that I have to work on homework during the afternoon hours. One strategy that I have found that works pretty well is really utilizing the Main Library. I am usually there at least 5 nights a week, working on multiple assignments.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
One of the main strategies that I really like to use is to make myself a To-Do list. It requires little more than 5 minutes, and it is a good thing to have to keep myself on track for the week. Personally, I like making mine on a Post-It note, and putting it in my computer, so that whenever I am doing homework, I see it and am reminded to get stuff done on time. Another benefit to having a physical To-Do list is the satisfaction of checking off certain tasks.
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
In the marching band, I am part of the Hawkeye Drumline, which is important because only the drumline memorizes all of our music, including our halftime shows. To make sure we have the music memorized and to keep us accountable, we have these memorization checks leading up to our halftime performance. In one of our shows this year themed "Secret Agents", we had a four-week period to learn and memorize this music, which is unheard of for the marching band. Due to the large amount of time, we got given much more difficult music than normal, making it pretty difficult to memorize, especially when you factor in the fact that it was right around the first round of midterms in most of my classes. Due to this, I had a very difficult time trying to figure out what was more important, memorizing this music or studying for my upcoming midterms. I handled it by first figuring out what assignments had the earliest due dates and doing those first. Then, until I had assignments that were only due after my memorization check date, I really put it more time memorizing music. This helped me manage my assignments and music memorization quite effectively.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
I would say that it definitely has. I have found through marching band that I like to take a very hands-on approach to a lot of problems that I have, and that has most definitely translated over to group projects. I find myself being a lot more curious about the 'why's' of problems rather than just the answers.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
The biggest that that has helped me is just embracing both sides of your time. I find that really leaning into each activity when you are actually participating in it really helps me keep from experiencing academic burnout. Having the variety of a variety of things going on outside of just schoolwork really helps keep life colorful and exciting.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
My I really love the Main Library for studying and getting schoolwork done. Another thing that has really helped me in the past is TA office hours. Going to TA hours really helped me through some of my classes, and they provide a different way of thinking from what the professors usually teach.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
My favorite class so far has probably been Computer Science I: Fundamentals, as it has been the only coding class that I have taken so far. I imagine that Data Structures will probably be my favorite when I take it, but so far it has to be CS I.
Rece Johnson
Major(s): 1st Year - Computer Science
How do you juggle your time between your computer science classes and marching band rehearsals?
It's easy since my lectures are in the morning. I wake up, I have a couple friends that I can go to lectures with. We all meet up and it helps that my TA's office hours are outside of marching band rehearsal so I can attend both. So, I can get help while also still being able to go to band.
What's your go-to strategy for keeping everything organized and on track?
I have a digital planner where I can lay out all of my assignments that I have to do. So, that allows me to kind of check things off one by one over the course of the semester. [I also] just like using their syllabus that are provided [to see an overview of the class].
Can you share a tough moment when you balance both commitments and how you handled it?
Most recently I had, there was a project that we were assigned. It was about a week and a half or so to do. So, I had a little bit of it done but between band we had rehearsal that whole week. And then we had a game on this most recent Saturday against Wisconsin. And so that made it hard to get any work done kind of over the weekend just because football takes up a lot of the day. And I just kind of balanced that by going to office hours and just getting together with friends to talk it out and getting it done on time.
Do you see any connections between teamwork in marching band and working on group projects in your major?
In marching band you're kind of used to, you have your squad of people that you always march with. So, you kind of bond with those three other people to know your spot, know the music that you're playing. And then it just translates to being able to work well in a group with a team.
What tips would you give to someone trying to balance a major with other activities?
Find a way to relax, whether that's just taking a day for yourself or finding something that you enjoy. Even if it isn't band, just some other activity. I would say if you're trying to learn how to balance it, if it's your first time trying to do it, it'll take time and it'll be hard. But once you get into a flow, it gets much easier.
Are there any tools or resources that really help you manage everything?
I like to meet up with friends and we can kind of talk about the projects we're going through. Just kind of talk about how to start different ideas that we can throw out and just collaborate with each other.
What has your favorite class in your major been so far?
Right now, I'm just doing [Computer Science I] fundamentals, still trying to get into it. And while it's a hard class, but I'm getting better. While it's doing its job, I'm getting better. And while there are ups and downs to both, I feel I am performing much better than when I started the year.