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A Gov and Beyond

The First-Year Writing Journal at APSU

Woman holding a neon heart sign with A Gov and Beyond at the topCourses in the First-Year Writing sequence at Austin Peay provide students with the skills and opportunity to analyze the rhetoric around them and to join the conversations occurring in the academic, professional, and public communities of which they are members. 

Each Spring, the First-Year Writing Program hosts the First-Year Writing Competition. Students who were enrolled in ENGL 1005, ENGL 1010, and/or ENGL 1020 during the current academic year, can submit work completed for these courses to be reviewed by a panel of faculty judges. Winners of the competition are awarded a cash prize and have their work published in A Gov and Beyond: The First-Year Writing Journal at APSU.

A Gov and Beyond celebrates the impressive work our students complete and reflects the interests and concerns that spur student engagement each academic year. Additionally, the journal serves as a resource that future students can refer to as they begin their writing journey.

Have Your Work Featured!

If you would like to see your writing featured in A Gov and Beyond, 2025-2026 Edition, submit your paper to the First-Year Writing Competition by March 26, 2026, using the following form.

First-Year Writing Competition Submission Form

2025-2026 Competition Winners

ENGL 1010: Composition I

 

First Place
Mispronunciations Becoming Marketing
by Matthew Samuelson

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Second Place
Persuasion isn't Enough
by Addison Fuller

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Third Place
Parenting in Pixels
by Samantha Kemp

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Honorable Mentions

Public Argument Letter: The Four-Day Workweek
by James Morris

Grandpa's Letters
by Raeleigh Schoultz

ENGL 1020: Composition II

 

First Place
The Enemy Within: Tobias Wolff's 'Bullet in the Brain'
by Hannah Bryant

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Second Place
Analysis: A Theme of Loss
by Shelby Epps

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Third Place
Analysis: A Theme of Loss
by Shelby Epps

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Honorable Mentions

Literature Review: Benefits of Creative Writing on Mental Health
by Sidney Kelly

Hamlet's Paralysis: The Tragedy of Inaction
by Mina-Sive Baker

A Gov and Beyond Archives

Browse individual essays or view past journals in their entirety!

Essays by Class

Personal Narrative

Rhetorical Analysis 

Public Argument

Literary Argument

Reflection

Literary Analysis/Argument

Academic Argument

 

Previous Editions

 

2025Girl holding neon sign shaped like a heart

2024Blue circles radiating outwards with A Gov and Beyond written in the corner

  

Contact Us

Keely Mohon-Doyle
Director of First-Year Writing
mohondoylek@apsu.edu