Come As You Are: Centering the Self in First-Year Writing

For instructors, Come As You Are: Centering the Self in First-Year Writing is more than a textbook, it is a comprehensive first-year writing course.

For students, this text Is a reminder that writing originates from the self and reflects intentional choices, revealing that every aspect of writing is a deliberate act shaped by the writer's presence and purpose.

Across three major writing projects, students are introduced to a process-oriented, experiential approach focused on how institutional histories and rhetorics shape the university. Through academic and public writing, students contribute to this discourse and thus, actively create the university through their language and experiences.

Projects, which are designed to support students in becoming adaptable and confident writers, include an introduction to each genre, assignment sequences, student models, peer and instructor feedback guides, and reflective prompts.