In Writing 1, students are challenged to write more critically and creatively, and to become new and more thoughtful writers even as they develop existing strengths. The pages that follow offer a sampling of the work produced by students in Writing 1. At the end of each semester, we offer a reading of poems and short prose writings which originate during the Visiting Writer week (an essential component of every Writing 1 class). In spring 2006, we held our first Writing 1 Research Symposium, which we hope will become an annual event. The readings and the symposium help to make real for students the idea that there are real audiences for their work, that their writing participates in and contributes to a broader intellectual community, that their writing can matter.