Studies have previously found a significant relationship between student writing center usage and demographic factors including gender, GPA, and English-language proficiency (Salem, 2015). Additional research has been conducted on writing center outcomes and student conceptions and misconceptions of writing centers as academic resources. However, previous scholarship has attested to the need for continuous research into writing center usage patterns and the factors that affect them. This will allow centers to make the necessary changes and improvements to become more accessible and inclusive for the benefit of all students. The present research contributes to the ongoing discussion about why students choose to use or not use the writing center and how their identities and pre-existing ideas about the center inform this decision. Further, it addresses research gaps by surveying students in an honors college setting at a large public university and considering new decision-making factors such as race, mental health, and social stigma. By comparing students demographics and impressions of the Barrett Writing Center (BWC) on the ASU campus, the study draws conclusions about the significant gap between positive perception and usage, the influence of social anxiety and stigma amongst honors students, the successes and failures of tutoring for second language English speakers, and the benefit derived by students who attend multiple writing center sessions. Suggestions to improve the BWC and guide future research are offered based on these observations and significant trends in the data.

As of 2022, suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 12-24. For adolescents who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ communities, the rates of suicide contemplations and attempts are as high as four times more likely compared with their heterosexual or cisgender peers. As of 2022, 45% of LGBTQIA+ youths have contemplated suicide. LGBTQIA+ teens are also more likely to experience bullying and discrimination. Despite extensive research conducted by The Trevor Project pointing to the importance of representation in the media for these LGBTQIA+ teens, governors, state legislatures, and school boards around the United States have made it their mission to deny these teens access to literature that feature LGBTQIA+ characters. As of September 2022, one in four books that are banned across the country from school libraries contain LGBTQIA+ characters. In order to combat this lack of access to LGBTQIA+ Young Adult literature, I created a resource website that acts as a safe space for queer teens to explore literature that features teens who identify like they do. The purpose of my website is threefold. First, I aimed to create a joyous space for teens to discover LGBTQIA+ literature. Second, I provided resources and information about different sexualities and gender identities for anyone who might want more information on these topics. And third, I wanted to prove to website visitors that they are not alone, regardless of how they may be negatively treated at home or at school. To accomplish these three goals, I created specific pages on the website, such as book recommendation pages compiled with research of LGBTQIA+ YA books paired with my own knowledge and resource pages informed by outside research such as my hotlines, LGBTQIA+ terminology, statistics, and gender identity explained pages. I also include a handful of author interview pages, which highlight written interviews I conducted with a few critically acclaimed queer YA authors. I provide screenshots and explanations in the following pages.