Here it is: my very second essay :-)

[m@zzi]

Just to be honest: I'm not as satisfied as my first attempt. I liked this topic less.
Thank you for helping me.

TOEFL listening lectures: What is the main difference between a fad and a trend?

[m@zzi]

All college students should be required to take classes outside of their major fields of study.

Imagine yourself as a college student and let’s say you love History. Do you really imagine yourself taking every day History lectures without getting bored? What if between two hours of History lectures you would be required to take a Mathematics class? Maybe you wouldn’t get bored anymore, and you would have the chance to enlarge your own culture as well. These considerations lead me to agree with the idea that students at college should be required to take classes outside their major fields of study.

To begin with, students should have a broad knowledge derived from the study of different subjects. The main reason for that is a matter of general knowledge: a student who loves Mathematics, for example, should know the masterpieces created by the most important writer of his/her country because, in my opinion, everyone should have a basic knowledge of Arts, Literature, History and Science. Even if some students could agree with that idea and would take those classes by themselves, I think the majority of students would not care taking different lectures, so I agree that they should be required to do so, even at a college level.

In addition to the issue of general knowledge, I think that following different classes can help to develop different strategies and “different” lines of reasoning. If a student centers on only a subject, it is possible that he/she lacks other very useful skills mainly strengthened by other fields. That lacking of skills could have a negative impact in everyday life. For example, if a student whose major field is History only takes classes in his/her major field at college, then it is likely he/she would lose any Mathematical or Physical skill. Of course, in some cases, this lost is not so crucial for his/her career. However, I think that a lot of students would lost quite all the ability of reasoning developed within a scientific subject. This would bring a negative effect in a lot of different scenarios, from the difficulty of understanding the change in a supermarket to the uneasiness in joining an intellectual conversation with strong logical reasoning involved.

Finally, in combination with the expansion of knowledge and the reinforcement of logical skills, taking classes of different subjects can help to prevent boredom. Students who have to deal with the same kind of lectures can suffer stress and boredom. Different lectures could help them to relax more and to vary their weeks at the same time. From my own experience, since in my country students are not required to vary their classes, the ones that follow only lectures related to their major fields more often than not end up leaving University, saying that it’s hard for them to cope with stress and boredom derived from spending every University day studying the same things.
In considering the benefits students would have if required to take classes outside their major fields of study at college, I have explored issues such as the expansion of general knowledge; the consolidation of logical reasoning; and a more vary plan of study. All these factors lead me to believe that students should be required to take classes not inherent their major fields of study at college.

[Luschen]

Hi, "my very second" is not generally used in English, but it is quite amusing. I really liked this essay. It seems like a lot to write in the allotted time though. In America (I believe UK is the same way, but not 100% sure) we do not capitalize the names of college courses unless they are a language. English, math, physics, French, chemistry, Italian. We also do not capitalize university unless it is a specific university - like my alma mater, The University of Texas. Hook 'em Horns!