Have you had an assignment returned and wondered why your instructor has marked up your grammar and spelling? This isn't an English or Rhetoric class, right?

Rules of grammar do not exist to make your life difficult, but to help us to clearly understand one another. Bad grammar clouds your description or argument, and makes it difficult for your instructor to evaluate how well you completed the assignment. No matter how good your ideas are, you must communicate them clearly if you want to do well.

This isn't just a skill you need in college. Imagine turning in an application for a new job, a report to your boss, a pitch for funding, or giving a presentation where your grammar is confused. You'll make a bad impression. You may be a genius, but if others cannot easily understand your point of view it becomes easy for them to brush it aside.