Assignment 1:

Write a three-paragraph essay to show your opinions on the

following comment: “Attendance at college classes should be
optional.”

Optional attendance to college classes has been an increasingly popular way

for students to study in quite a few countries. However, it has not yet had its
intended results as it had been hoped. In fact, today, this system seems to be one
of the reasons for the corruption of university education. In my opinion, compulsory
attendance is better than optional attendance for all the college classes.

There are three following reasons to prove for my opinion. Firstly, one side
will say that university students are adults and should be able to manage their time
as they see fit. This viewpoint says that sometimes, in today’s busy world, people
need flexibility to manage their lives. For example, many single parents who are
trying to earn their college degrees will sometimes need to skip a class because
of the demands of their other responsibilities. However, I believe that the great
majority of college students are young and single, and have few responsibilities,
and that is a reason they need the discipline and structure of a system that requires
attendance. Secondly, there are many negative situations caused by the free-
attendance system. The most harmful one is the economic waste for both
universities and students. Many students who do not attend classes regularly are
likely to suffer decreased performance on their exams and therefore waste their
time in college. They, generally, do not feel panic because of the failures or
restudying the same subjects for the second time. However, this sometimes costs
a fortune to both parents and the government that have created tax-funded
subsidies for education for each student every year. Not only are the university
fees wasted, but also the money for accommodations and other spending are also
wasted. On the other hand, students who are required to attend classes regularly
have no time wasting in harmful activities such as gambling, drinking or drug. I do
not mean they are only to study without any break or entertainment. Their social
life is as necessary as studying during the hard academic years, yet, the amount
of each should be balanced well. More spare time than necessary encourages the
young to ignore studying and classes. Thus, neither the universities nor the
students do their best if the students have too much freedom not to study.

To sum up, a scheduled chart of classes will help students to construct an

ideal campus life including leisure activities. In addition, this will stop the waste of
time and money and is likely to reevaluate the higher education system in several
years. In short, I believe that the majority of college students are too young to
manage their time responsibly and the colleges should therefore impose strict rules
on the student attendance.