Importance of a Pencil?

You can ERASE!

'Nuff said.

I don't get it. What's so special about Erasing? Isn't it a better learning experience if you can see your own mistakes? Just cross it out if you make a mistake with a pen. (And as I said, when the eraser's not there, I tend to be more cautious)

I'm the complete opposite. I absolutely hate pens, and I can NOT stand using them. Frickin' hate them.

I've written in purely cursive since second grade. I have a fast, often messy style of cursive that flows much easier when I can use my mechanical pencil. Pens slow me down and only create more mess when I have to scribble things out.

Teachers that require pens on exams piss me off. I hate being forced to use No. 2 pencils, as well, but that's another topic.

I have some nice pen (came in a 4 pack that costed me $12.95) that flows smoothly and looks and dries like printer ink. They actually flow more smoothly than some of the best mechanical pencils I used ($20 ones).

I also hate how they smear when papers written in pencil smear in your backpack. Before I started using pen, I regularly had notes literally illegible (because the pencil smear was so great) by the time I had to turn it in.