This dissertation study reports on an IRB-approved qualitative study of ten students who took class-assigned writing and moved it beyond the curriculum, I examine the curricular and extracurricular contexts that drove students to voluntarily develop projects that involve writing. The findings I share in this dissertation are based on interviews and content analysis viewed through a grounded theory lens. Pulling from the students' interviews and texts, I concentrate on three areas of interest: identity development and its relationship to self-defined goals, faculty-student relationships, and support structures. In examining these areas more closely, I find that students' imagined identities, both current and future, are central to the ways they experience learning. These identities shape priorities and also create the anxieties associated with seeking group acceptance. The ways in which faculty build relationships with students and the ways in which support structures are placed in their learning environments can either encourage students to take risks in their exploration of these identities and pursuit of these goals, or it can discourage them. In the case of these students, it was the former. I conclude this dissertation by offering recommendations for practice, both for faculty and administrators. I argue for the creation of spaces where students can "try on" identities, the development of faculty-student relationships based on mutual respect and approachability, the inclusion of focused long-term projects in writing curriculum which provide time for reflection, and the integration of opportunities for student agency in curriculum and university-wide frameworks for student engagement. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]