<p>The first year writing requirement is not hard at all. In my opinion, it’s essentially taking writing conventions you already do intuitively and giving them labels. For a while I thought it was a kind of silly, but I’m definitely seeing the benefit now. Writing papers has gotten much easier now that I can more easily determine what my claim is and where to include opposing views, etc. etc. Even though it can be a bit tedious, I think it’s useful just for gaining confidence in your writing skills.</p>