In the hopes of deepening Basic Writing instructors' critical awareness of their authority in assigning meaning to student experience, we present a case study of two adult-arrival immigrant students. We explore the ways that writing instructors and tutors encourage students' personal narratives of persistence--rather than actual persistence habits--and shape their academic and person identities, at times in ways beyond students' choosing. We call into question the relevance and utility of applying the popular theoretical framework of symbolic capital (Bourdieu) to Basic Writing and college literacy pedagogy. Instead, we call for Basic Writing instructors to respond to students' personal narratives as a form of participation within a specific academic discourse community. This work requires refocusing the learning environment as a community of practice to center student agency alongside educators' and students' participation goals, while providing students with an explicit introduction to participation expectations so that they can make informed decisions about how and when they choose to share personal stories.