Life Science LLC
About
The Life Science (Life Sci) LLC is for active learners seeking to unravel the complexities of the natural world and may be interested in biology, health science, ecology, evolution, and more. Participation in this LLC will centre upon career clarity, experiential learning & faculty engagement in a supportive Residence community.
The pedagogical approach taken to co-curricular learning and development within the Life Sci LLC will be primarily experiential. By foregrounding experience, participants will be given the chance to be active learners. Utilizing a peer-facilitated approach within a shared living environment, this LLC will seek to engage students socially, intellectually and professionally in ways that promote community development, faculty-student interaction, and an appreciation for the various ways in which one’s individual knowing is enhanced when other voices are involved in a learning experience.
Course Requirements
Students in the Life Science LLC must be enrolled in both BIO152 ‘Introduction to Evolution and Evolutionary Genetics' and BIO153 ‘Diversity of Organisms’. These courses are required for students interested in pursuing various programs in Biology or Biomedical Communications.
LLC Program Highlights
Through the unique programming offered, in the past, members of this community have participated in the following:
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Exclusive LLC Orientation & End-of-Year Dinner/Social
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Personalized academic workshops
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Field trips with faculty to Ripley's Aquarium, Riverwood Conservancy, and Ontario Science Centre
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Faculty-led greenhouse tours
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Upper-year and Grad School AMA panels
Residence Placement
Students in the Life Sci LLC will be placed in Oscar Peterson Hall and all eligible candidates will be guaranteed Residence so long as they meet application and eligibility requirements.
Hear from our students!
I would definitely recommend joining an LLC to incoming students. The LLC offered an environment of like-minded and passionate students. We could always rely on one another and supported each other throughout first year.
My favourite part of the LLC was all of the lasting connections I made with professors and other students. Being in the Life Science LLC I had the opportunity to connect with amazing science professors, the faculty field trips and tours of labs were incredible opportunities that our PAL made possible! I also got to talk to grad students in the field and connect with other students taking the same courses.
My favourite memories from my first year experience in the LLC were the little things. I look back and remember the late nights studying in the common room, the celebrations after a big test, or the impromptu movie nights with our Don and PAL! The LLC community created lasting friendships and is where I made some of my best friends at UTM.
Isabella (1st year student): In the Life Sci LLC, I loved attending workshops regularly with our peers, right after we moved in. It really helped us bond and get to know each other. Once we formed friendships in the first couple of months, it was really nice to have the support of my peers available when and where I would need it most.
One of my favourite memories from the LLC was one of our workshops with our LLC PF (Program Facilitator), near the beginning of the year. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but afterwards we were just able to ask our LLC PF questions about university life and played games and talked. It was very relaxed and after such a hectic couple of weeks getting moved in it was really nice to just get to know each other and breathe in a casual setting with our neighbours. It was also really cool to bond with our LLC PF who gave us some great advice.
Living in residence is already a great experience as a first year when you get to know new people and spend time with them/ have their support available to you. The Life Science program is very demanding and involves a lot of hard work and focus to succeed. It can be easy to become overwhelmed and/or feel alone in your struggles, as the work is individual. But living in the LLC and getting to know other people in your program in group settings and seeing them often, allowed for bonding through understanding of shared experiences which was not only was important in forming friendships but also in maintaining a healthy mindset throughout the academic year.
To be in the Life Sci LLC, I enrolled in BIO152 and BIO153. My favourite thing about the courses were the lectures. They were very interactive (using TeamUp and Learning Catalytics that were about testing knowledge without penalization) and we learned about things that were really interesting but weren’t always “test material” because the professors were very knowledgeable and passionate about the subjects. This additional knowledge gave us an opportunity to explore more about biology and our passions for it. This course was a required credit for my desired pOST, Biology for Health Sciences.
