In the age of electronic communication, why is it still important to know how to write well? First, to pass the composition course a student must be able to demonstrate proficiency in writing. This skill will also help the student in most other classes taken. Another reason is that it will directly benefit the student in achieving individual goals. As a student gets closer to graduation, many resumes will be submitted and posted for companies to view. For the person who has excellent communication skills, this will be the first opportunity to impress, thus attracting the recruiter's attention. The goal is that the company wants to hire the student for the position. Once hired, much of the communication you do will be in the form of emails and written memos; For the employee who has acquired the ability to effectively express ideas, concepts, information and directions through written communication, this will be an efficient tool for completing business tasks. Now that the importance of being able to write well has been established, how does a student take the first step on the journey of passing a college composition course? The instructor informs the class that they have one week to write an evaluation essay. The first decision the student must make concerns the topic. A few ideas come to mind, but none really inspire the student's imagination. What does the student do now? There are many sites available to assist the student. The site creators must have understood that the writing process can be challenging. All the student has to do is type ideas for the assigned essay type into the search engine; many sites will appear that provide ideas for a topic. The student is able to leaf through some... half of the paper... read the essay aloud; it can help the writer find many errors that are not obvious during proofreading. There are many options available to get help with proofreading and the student has many options to choose from. Ultimately, a student's focus may be on the short-term goal of passing the class. The art of effective communication is a learned talent, therefore the knowledge and skills acquired during the course will benefit the student in all areas of life. The professor will be concise about what the assignment entails. The textbook offers examples and an outline to follow. Graphic organizers help organize your document in a cohesive way, and there are many tools available to aid in the review and editing process. If the student takes the time to follow the tips above, excelling in the course will be a simple process.