In the small rural school setting you're not usually part of a cluster that's so dependent on other directors (for better or worse) and you pretty much ARE the band program and you can have so much more control of your program and for me I really felt like I made a much bigger difference in that setting. You get either all the credit or all the blame. It's really largely up to you and most of the pressures usually tend to be what you put on yourself.
Yes, there was a pay cut, but it was so worth it and I'd do it again. I also did get to work with the high school some and I really enjoyed it and was able to see the fruits of my labors over the years directly by doing that. I made it all the way to retirement and was much happier during that last half of my career than I was in the pressure cooker of the first half.
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