#1 Academic Writing Myth + The difference between facts and opinions

Being in College is so different then Highschool. Many of us are living away from home for the first time, learning in an entirely new enviroment, and learning at a completely different level than what we are used to. Reality hit me when I attended my first semester in English Composition class at Lancaster Bible College. The one rule in acedemic writing you always hear your teacher telling you in Highschool is, "do not write the word "I" in your papers." In my English Comp. class, I was given a textbook called, "They Say I Say" and it teaches the contrary. Many of you would probably be thinking right now that either I am misinformed or that my College is teaching English class incorrectly, but using the word "I" in academic writing is not only looked favorably upon it is expected in order to write efficently. They reason, and I quote, "To be sure, writers can resort to various circumlocutions--'it will here be argued,''the evidence suggests,''the truth is'--and these may be useful for avoiding a montonous series of 'I believe' sentences. But except for avoiding such monotony, we see no good reason why 'I'should be set aside in persuasive writing. Rather than prohibit 'I,'then, we think a better tactic is to give students practice at using it well and learning its use, both by supporting claims with evidence and by attending closely to alternate persecptives--to what 'they' are saying." So in this way if what we read is true using the word "I" can strengthin your paper by supporting a claim or adding new ideas to another writer's thoughts.
 When I think about the statement, "There is a difference between facts and opinions", I think of how we are challenged to anaylze what is being taught and research claims we come across within many of my classes and escpecially my English Composition class. I firmly believe there is a difference between facts and opinions. Fact are what everyone, no matter who they are or whether they have different worldviews,cultures, religions,ect. can deny. Opinions are based upon facts but use our experiences, worldviews, cultures,ect., to accept what we believe. Many opinions contradict throughly and cannot both be true. Facts are always constant. Some things we call facts in our society today are more likely opinions rather than facts because they are not supported by other facts. This is why if you do not understand or believe a statement it would be wise to research the subject/statement throughly with an open mind and come to your own conclusion on each matter you face. Challenge every so often what you think you is 100% correct. You could be ignoring the truth without even wanting to or trying to by not exaiming what you firmly believe and understanding why you believe what you believe.