DeKALB | NIU students will have the opportunity to impress audiences with their writing and presentation skills during the Showcase of Student Writing on April 13.

The showcase, which has been presented by the First Year Composition Program (FYCP)  since 2008, will give English students the chance to show off their writing and research skills.

Students will set up booths in the Duke Ellington Ballroom inside the Holmes Student Center, and the public is open to observe the projects, said FYCP coordinator Chris Blankenship.

Blankenship said the event will have the feel of a science fair, where the public is free to walk around and view the various projects.

The showcase gives students an opportunity to practice skills necessary after graduation, but may not practice as a student.

Most students practice writing in an academic sense, but presentation is more applicable to the real world, Blankenship said.

“The showcase gives them a chance to practice those skills,” he said.

Freshman finance major Brian Reynolds, who will have a project in the showcase, saw the opportunity as a chance to practice his presentation skills.

“It will be good to get experience presenting in front of a real audience,” Reynolds said. “In the business world, presentations like this are way more common.”

The projects will range from informational to persuasive, and students will be judged by a panel made up of personnel from the Department of English, Blankenship said.

First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded, including $100 for the first place prize.

Reynolds said he was more excited to impress the public than the judges.

“I worked really hard on it, so hopefully the audience likes it,” he said.