Sample Body Paragraph: (1) While there is little doubt that extracurricular
opportunities at UT are a positive and critical component of students‟ overall development,
providing students with time management skills is equally important. (3) One only needs to
look at past alumni to see the validity of this claim. As famous alum George W. Bush states,
(4) “I sometimes overdid it when I was at UT, missing out on valuable academic
opportunities. Fortunately, I buckled down in my senior year and managed to make a „C‟
average and things have worked out fine since” (227). (5) In this example, George W. Bush
is arguing that the detrimental effects of extracurricular excesses can be rectified in the
senior year of college. (6)While George W. Bush is certainly correct when he implies that it
is never too late for a student to try to raise his or her GPA, it is probably better for
students to attempt to balance academic and other activities early in their college career.
Also, Bush assumes that all students can achieve what they want with a „C‟ average, but
many students need higher GPAs in order to apply to professional school, graduate school
and for graduate-entry jobs. (7) While extracurricular activities are often a positive and
critical component of student life at UT, administrators should consider instigating a time
management education and awareness course for all incoming freshmen. After all, not
every UT graduate will be as lucky as George W. Bush; if our students are going to succeed
in business and higher education, we need to first ensure they understand the importance of
time management.