Just like an unknown sage said, “There is no glory in practice, but without practice, there is no glory!”
The same goes for the college students. when we are in the very first semester of our college life, nothing in the world seems more challenging and exigent than our first writing assignment and even after hours and days of struggle, it doesn’t really come back with exceptional grades (for a majority of us). However, that isn’t to say that it will forever remain that way. With frequency and persistence, our writing tasks can get us from worst to first.
And you can’t deny it because it’s a fact. Here’s how it happens:
You Hone Your Argumentative Skills
Some students are really good at convincing others with their exceptional speaking skills but writing is an entirely another story. When we speak, our voice, our expressions and our body language help us drive our point across but when we are writing we just have words to impress the person reading it. However, writing regularly and consistently helps us improve a great deal of skills. Students with the poorest writing skills can become pro at presenting the most belligerent ideas with logic and rhetoric by their third semester. And when they do the same in an organizational setting, it makes a huge difference.
You Learn about Exceptional Structure
The first writing assignment is the most difficult. It usually involves staring at the wall for hours with a blank page. And then it continues with writing and erasing again and again. Second thoughts and reservations become every student’s best friends. However, this improves with recurring writing assignments. Students get to learn and understand the best way in which they can present their ideas and justify their arguments. They learn to organize their chaotic thoughts and put them down in black and white. And, this learned skill goes a long way not only into the academic life but also into professional one.
You Write Better Script
Writing assignments is not just about presenting ideas, proper researches and well-written arguments but it also involves writing the English script itself. This is even more challenging for international students whose native language is not English. But this is exactly how writing helps. When we regularly and religiously write assignments and take every criticism and disapproval with an open mind, we eventually sail this challenge as well.
You Become a Better Researcher
Researching is a skill that requires knowing the difference between important information and information that should be disregarded, and not just that but having the skills to go through endless materials, books and then absorbing and filtering them out. Writing an assignment requires detailed research and while the first assignment might have several holes and shortcomings, writing more and more assignments eventually make us better at research as well as this helps us with the future path we decide to choose for us; PhD or job.
You Get Creative with the Boring Stuff
No one will be able to forget that first time when bibliography, references and footnotes were our nightmares. But as unnecessary or ridiculous they might seem at the time, they are part of every professional and proper writing assignment. And over time, not only do we learn its importance but we also get pretty dexterous with it.
These skills remain with you like loyal friends long after you have left the college. So next time you are mewling and complaining about an assignment, remember this. It will most probably save your career at some point.