The thought-provoking research and writing of first-year students were presented at the Third Annual Knights Write Showcase, hosted in the Student Union this week by the Department of Writing and Rhetoric.

The showcase is an opportunity for the UCF community to view the exceptional work of students from the First-Year Writing Program. The event featured student displays, panels and awards for best writings.

Three student panels allowed young researchers to share their work with an audience. Research projects presented during the panel sessions included “Spanglish and Its Effect on L1 and L2 Speakers,” “Combatting Internet Piracy,” and “Geocaching and the Use of Multiple Literacies.”

Students whose work had previously been published in UCF’s Stylus: A Peer-Reviewed Journal of First-Year Writing presented a glimpse of first-year writing at its best and were recognized by Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop.

José Fernandez, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, presented awards for best student displays to Vanessa Carrillo for best overall poster, “Religious Literacy;” David Sheets for best research, “Reality Networks;” Lindsay Schmit for best presentation, “Facebook and Self-Disclosure;” and Delaney Postma, honorable mention for her poster “Traumatic Brain Injury.”

UCF President John C. Hitt concluded the ceremony by presenting the Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing to Lindsay Schmit for her research article “Personality and Its Effects on Facebook and Self-Disclosure,” published in the Fall 2012 issue of Stylus.

The prize includes a $450 book scholarship donated by Hitt and the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Schmit, now a sophomore majoring in Pre-Clinical Health Sciences, was accompanied to the ceremony by her parents, Cathy and Dave, who drove from Fort Meyers to attend the showcase.

Marissa Penzato, now a sophomore Aerospace Engineering major, and Victoria Marro, now a junior majoring in Microbiology and Molecular Biology, were awarded first- and second-runners-up.

For more information about the Knights Write Showcase, the First-Year Writing Program or the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, visit http://writingandrhetoric.cah.ucf.edu.