Finals are finally here! Sorry folks, not the finals involving your favorite top 12 drum corps -- you've still got another 16 weeks for that -- but the ones that decide whether you pass your classes. With only a handful of weeks left in the school year, the thought of sleeping on floors, practicing all day and night, eating off a truck, and waking up in a different city each morning seem more and more appealing. I'd take an average day of tour over an average day in college any time. Things are just so much easier on the road; you just go with the flow. Yet in college, you've gotta worry about waking yourself up for class, talking yourself into actually going to class, feeding yourself, massive amounts of homework, keeping your social life up to date, and last but not least, time to practice your drum corps trade. The aspects of tour are kind of like your parents when you were a little kid. On tour, a drum major or someone else of authority usually wakes you up. Occasionally you're woken up by a sudden slam of the breaks from the bus driver. Although at school, the responsibility of getting yourself up for the day is left to yourself and an unreliable alarm clock. So in my scorebook: Drum corps 1, College 0. You're then told to get up, eat breakfast, and get ready for the first rehearsal block of the morning. While in retrospect, you've got the option of sleeping in and just not going to your classes. Score: Drum corps 1 ,College 1. Then probably one of the most important times of the day would be eating lunch and or dinner. There's always the burning question of what to eat? Cook it yourself? Go out and buy it? Or, mooch it off of someone else? Well, why bother making decisions, when there's someone to make them for you on a chuck wagon. It might not be the meal you're in the mood for, or something you particularly like that much, but then there's always PB&J. Score: Drum corps 2, College 1. And what about your social life? You're surrounded by tons of others that share the same interests as you 24 hours a day. If you get extremely bored, then there's seriously something wrong with you. You even get to party multiple nights of the week while on tour. Well, the parking lot of a show site sure looks like one after retreat. It may be missing some essentials to your typical college party, but it'll suffice for the time being. Score: Drum corps 3 – College 1. Well it's apparent that I enjoy being on tour more than being in school, but this isn't an anti-school speech. They're both just great things. It's just unfortunate that there isn't a drum corps college. Eric Fox, 19, is sophomore at Florida State University. He played in the front ensemble of the Tampa Bay Thunder 2000 and 2001, and with the Phantom Regiment 2002, and will play with the Magic of Orlando in 2003. Fox will report back from each spring camp, and continue his reports through the summer. Send him e-mail at friceox@aol.com, or instant message him at friceox.