Jessica Beckett is a doctoral candidate in the Rhetoric and Writing program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where she teaches writing courses and serves as assistant to the Director of the First Year Composition program. Her professional work is driven by her passion for mentoring students and educators in the tools for adapting to a variety of rhetorical situations. Her scholarship centers on notions of connection and conflict, especially in terms of negotiating competing value systems and disciplinary expertise.