things seem to be looking up. I had this long talk with my parents yesterday, one that did not involve any tears. went through the report book with them, and I am so glad to say that neither of them has asked me to quit band. they did, however, torture me about the number of hours I plan to use for studying next year. this year, I only had 14 hours a week, equivalent to 2 hours a day. according to my dad, this is insufficient, as he keeps reminding me that during his part-time studying days, he studied 6 hours a day. so I did a little modification, some sacrifices were made in terms of sleep time and swimming. but in the end, I managed to get 28 hours a week, 4 hours a day. even my mum was happy. everything may work out after all. =)