3 Who Are the Students You Serve?

Each Composition course is unique in its make-up of students. Our students live in varied situations and are entering our courses with diverse knowledge about writing, communication, and language. Some students are living away from home for the first time, while others are living off-campus with relatives. Some students are attending college without the worry of paying tuition, while others are working full-time jobs to make ends meet. Some of our students are entering college after having just graduated from high school, and some are non-traditional students who are returning to college after some time away. Many of our students speak another language, and some of our students do not use English as their primary language at home. Many of our students have seen little representation of themselves in their university classrooms. If you’d like to see statistical information on our students, check out the Utah State University Fast Facts page.

Some have been challenged to expand and sustain their ideas in writing beyond a five-paragraph essay template, while others have not. Most of our students are taking other general education courses with 100 or more students, and their Composition courses—which are capped at 23 students—are the smallest college courses they will take for their entire first year.

As instructors, we have the opportunity to engage with students’ varied perspectives and to encourage them to continually seek multiple viewpoints. As we recognize our students as individuals with unique backgrounds and perspectives, we can help them grow individually as readers, writers, and thinkers.