Frantically scribbling down notes in class, writing on Facebook walls, twittering and even texting. Students may not realize it, but writing is involved in almost every aspect of daily life. To commemorate writing, the U.S. Senate has declared Oct. 20 the first National Day on Writing.

To help celebrate National Day on Writing, the WSU Writing Program is sponsoring three events that help students share their own writing skills, said Dorian Deome, an administrative intern for the WSU Writing Program. The events are called “Cougs the Write Way” and are designed to get as many students to participate as possible, she said.

She said one of the events is “A Letter to President Floyd,” which asks students to write a letter to WSU President Elson S. Floyd that addresses an issue in the WSU community and propose a solution to it. This is a contest where students submit their letters online until 5 p.m. Oct. 20. When the three winners are announced, they will be invited to have lunch with Floyd and discuss the issues in their letters, she said.

Another event is a Poetry Night, which will start at 6 p.m. in Terrell Library Atrium, she said. The event will be an open mic where anyone can read a poem from their own work or from a favorite poet. There are three confirmed poetry guests: Jodi Frankfurt, Bryan Fry and Tim Hetland. The open mic will begin after their readings, she said.

The third event is a booth set up in the CUB allowing students to “free-write” at the table from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students are encouraged to write any piece of literature they want, such as short poems, sayings or stories, she said. The writings will turn into a collage of students work in recognition of National Day on Writing.

The activities have been organized by members of the administrative internship that is part of the writing program course, said Diane Kelly-Riley, co-director of the Writing Program.

She said the Writing Program is celebrating the National Day on Writing to help students gain understanding of the importance of writing. Many students are unaware of the variety of writing styles that they include into their lives daily, she said.

“We want to emphasize the integral role writing plays in all of our lives, and the ways in which our modes of writing are changing,” Kelly-Riley said. “The National Day on Writing at WSU will emphasize the significant amount of writing that students do.” WSU is very successful with incorporating writing skills into courses throughout the undergraduate studies, she said. WSU allows students many opportunities to gain knowledge of writing through many programs such as the Junior Writing Portfolio, the Writing Placement Exam and General Education courses.

The process in instate this first National Day on Writing was started by the National Council of the Teachers of English. The Senate passed this decision to support the role of writing in everyday life, Kelly-Riley said.

She said the National Council of the Teachers of English wanted to pass this because they wanted to show that young people are leading the way in developing new forms of communicating. They do this by using different forms of digital media to successfully communicate, working to build a global community, she said.

The ability to write effectively is becoming more essential than ever when fighting for jobs in today’s economy, senior communication major Chrissy Ayers said.

“I have been interviewing for internships and jobs and have been asked multiple times if I have adequate writing skills or not,” she said. “Being able to communicate with written word is now vital and crucial in any career or job.” WSU is a university with a writing program that is among the top in the nation, so having several events that show the importance of writing sounds like a great idea, Ayers said.