Final Orbit: Outcome Reflection
My name is Mika Trepanier, and I’m a Mechanical Engineering major at the University of Central Florida. I was born in China and raised in Canada, which shaped my multicultural perspective and introduced me to multiple languages and ways of thinking. While I didn’t grow up speaking Mandarin, I became fluent in French and English, and later began learning Spanish. These language experiences have helped me develop a deeper appreciation for communication, adaptability, and the balance between technical and creative expression—skills that continue to serve me both academically and personally.
A big part of my motivation comes from my cat, Spot—a black and white tuxedo cat with unique spots and an even more unique personality. He’s a constant source of comfort, inspiration, and joy in my life, and reminds me daily why I strive to create, improve, and pursue goals that matter to me.
Final Orbit: Outcome Reflection
After completing my journey through ENC1101, I can confidently say that my writing has undergone a full atmospheric shift. From creative expression to academic critique, from emotional vulnerability to rhetorical precision, I’ve gained tools, voice, and clarity. The assignments in this course weren’t just destinations—they were different galaxies I navigated through, explored, and ultimately integrated into my skillset. Below are the six course outcomes, each reflecting a vital part of that journey.
Outcome 1 Writing Processes and Adaptation
This outcome is the foundation of my flight systems—learning how to plan, revise, and reshape writing over time. I explored this most deeply in The Hyphen That Holds Me, where I developed a personal narrative and reflected on the emotional complexity of identity. I revised the piece with intention, thinking critically about what to keep and how to elevate key moments. But the clearest moment of growth came in Revision Practice #1, where I reimagined a single paragraph in five completely different forms. That process helped me understand how much a message can shift through structure, tone, and rhythm.
This outcome also came into play during Critical Thinking Response 7, where I didn’t just revise a few sentences—I had to completely rework the rhetorical situation after realizing that my intended audience (my middle school sister) might actually be harmed by the advice I was giving. That feedback helped me see that adaptation isn’t just about grammar—it’s about aligning your writing with the real-world context and needs of your audience.
Outcome #2: Multiple Literacies and Goal Setting
This outcome became real for me in how I used reading, discussion, writing, and reflection together to develop and refine my voice. I didn’t just write about my multilingual background—I actively engaged with multiple literacies in class, especially through the Module 4 Peer Review Discussion Forum. There, I had to read peer work, give feedback, revise based on responses, and consider how my writing functioned in a shared digital environment.
In Critical Thinking Response 7 & Redux, I also had to re-evaluate my writing goals entirely after feedback. I went from writing a personal letter to a more public, persuasive open letter for instructors. That change helped me practice not only switching genres but also identifying what strategies—emotional appeal, logic, tone—were best for the goal I had in mind. Each rhetorical decision became part of a broader literacy toolkit I was developing.
Outcome #3: Variation Across Contexts
This was one of the most transformative outcomes for me. I moved between genres and tones with increasing confidence—from narrative in The Hyphen That Holds Me, to poetic freewriting in One for Sorrow, to academic critique in my Module 3 Essay. Each required different navigation systems: one guided by emotion, another by evidence, and another by rhetorical adaptation.
A major turning point for me was realizing that structure shouldn’t always be copied from past assignments—it needs to reflect the complexity of what I’m trying to say. In the Module 3 Essay, I had initially organized my paragraphs around individual sources. Feedback helped me realize that I needed to center my own voice and use the sources to support it—not let them take over the structure. That experience showed me that adapting to new contexts isn't just about genre—it's about adjusting internal systems for each unique mission.
Outcome #4: Decision Making and Production
This course showed me that writing is full of micro-decisions that affect how a message is received. Every genre shift, structural change, or formatting choice required careful consideration. I experienced this especially in the shift from Critical Thinking Response 7 to the Redux, where I didn’t just rewrite—I had to rethink everything: who I was writing to, what they cared about, and how best to reach them.
I also made strategic decisions in Module 3, from how I opened the essay to how I layered personal experience with source evidence. In Revision Practice #1, I chose a sonnet form for my final paragraph revision—not because it was easy, but because it challenged me to express emotion within a highly structured format. These choices weren’t accidental—they were deliberate, and they helped me produce writing that felt crafted, not just completed.
Outcome #5: Writing and Power
This outcome revealed itself most clearly when I realized how personal voice can be a source of agency. In my literacy narrative, I explored how my cultural and linguistic identity shaped how others saw me—and how poetry became a tool to reclaim that narrative. One for Sorrow allowed me to access emotion that couldn’t be expressed in a traditional essay format. It reminded me that sometimes silence, metaphor, and rhythm speak louder than thesis statements.
Even in Module 3, where the tone was more academic, I argued that rigid structures like the five-paragraph essay can actually disempower students. That essay became my way of questioning not just the format but the assumptions behind it—challenging the idea that there’s only one “right” way to write. Across genres and tones, I learned that writing has power, and when I use it intentionally, it becomes an extension of who I am.
Outcome #6: Revision
If writing is a spacecraft, then revision is its onboard AI—always scanning for weak signals, recalibrating angles, and enhancing performance. In Revision Practice #1, I took a paragraph and reimagined it five ways, which was the clearest embodiment of this outcome. But revision also showed up in smaller, iterative ways: during peer review for Module 4, in the transition from CTR7 to Redux, and especially in polishing my Module 3 Essay.
With every draft, I learned that revision isn’t about fixing mistakes—it’s about refining intention. From cutting unnecessary first-person phrases to improving MLA citations and transitions, revision became less about edits and more about evolution. It was where my ideas solidified and my voice became sharper.
