Musicians work their entire music career for an audition that doesn’t guarantee a scholarship, but a seat in a musical ensemble. Just like athletes, musician’s work countless hours practicing, make sacrifices, yet, musicians receive sloppy treatment from universities. Athletes often are recruited, receive the best dorms and quality treatment from campus administration while musicians are forced to fund their own transportation and visiting fees, and miss out on the glam filled weekend visiting a school. Even Guilford hosts pep rallies and special events for winning athletic teams while musicians rarely get recognition on a similar scale.  It’s about time musicians got their fair share of the spotlight.

Music is a lifelong skill that can be maintained and relearned throughout life. Tackle football, on the other hand, is not the most optimal sport to maintain through old age.

“Music is timeless because there are so many notes to play and things to do,” said Ryan Larrabee, freshman and guitarist of nine years. “There are endless combinations that are never repetitive. And if you get bored with it just check out another artist or genre.”

Learning how to read music is very difficult. Figuring out how to translate dots on a page into a song takes a lot of effort and skill. In addition, musicians also study music theory, time signatures, and much more.

“Music is its own language,” said Madeline Roth, senior band member. “Once you get past the first year of music class, reading, writing, and speaking the music lingo gets so much easier.”

Musicians and athletes both dedicate a lot of time and work into their skills, but how can we merge the two polarizing worlds? At Guilford, athletes and musicians are already united for football and basketball games where various bands play during halftime. However, the same support musicians give towards athletes isn’t always reciprocated.p

“We march at the football games,” said Roth. “We support them, but the athletes don’t support us and that’s the issue.”