This first week of the semester I assign tuff-stuff, cause and effect essays in many of my classes. I ask my students to examine difficult decisions they have made in their lives. I ask them to pause, reflect, and open up. For example, if my students are anything like I was at their age, they’ve come across friends and family with substance abuse problems. We all carry around a certain level of shame because we could have said or done something to help, but we didn’t. Here in my classroom workshops, I hope my students will feel the confidence to write about their regret. They shouldn’t feel alone.