This article presents the National Day on Writing (NDOW) as an annual opportunity for writing programs to create program-supported thirdspaces (Burns; Mauk; Soja) that allow first-year writing students a laboratory in which to practice their developing rhetorical skills. The author proposes a contracted view of Ann Feldman's definition of engagement, in which writers "must see [themselves] in a "lived situation" that calls for writing," to argue that NDOW may help (1) build or support a local campus culture of writing; (2) engage students by asking them to contend with personal and political issues; and (3) provide students with opportunities to participate in public writing with live and diverse audiences.