I quit playing in the regular band read at the end of my freshman year and started playing in the Jazz Band. Much smaller group and a different schedule. I regretfully quit my senior year mainly because of work schedule!
I think it's real good for kids to get exposure to as much as possible to explore what might intrigue them.
Even though I was on a college prep plan, the academic curriculum was just extremely boring for me. It was way too easy and I really didn't have to study. That definitely came to bite me in the ass later on!
My toughest school in the Navy was two years of college crammed into six months! I really had no study skills and had to develop them! First half of the course was non classified and I could take my notes back to my living quarters to study and do homework, Everything in the second half was classified , therefore all the studying and homework had to be done at school ! That sucked so bad! There was usually three to 4 hours of homework every single night and about 12 hours on the weekends. I still graduated with a 3.7 GPA, but it was definitely quite the effort!
And you really couldn't ask for a worse place to have such a school! It was in Orlando. Not only did you have the things to do in Orlando you had Daytona Beach and all the East Coast and Tampa on the west coast of Florida.
And having the entire ladies women boot camp there, every Friday there was a fresh crop!