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EEB Second-Year Learning Community

We are proud to offer a Second-Year Learning Community (SLC) for second-year students new to our programs.

By joining the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Second-Year Learning Community (SLC) you will be surrounded by a small community of second-year students who are learning to navigate their academic and co-curricular pathways to make the most of their experiences as an EEB student. The SLC program is designed to help you make the most out of your degree by engaging in various social, academic and professional development opportunities.

The EEB SLC has replaced the EEB Peer Mentorship Program (EEB:PMP) and EEB Community Hubs, which were active in the academic years 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.

What are SLCs?

A second-year learning community (SLC or “slick”) brings together small groups of second-year students pursuing majors or specialists within the same department to develop their academic interests and networks together.

SLCs offer interactive, developmental and social activities to grow your network and support your academic success. Activities are facilitated by senior students who act as peer mentors, with guidance from faculty and staff advisors.

Programming includes:

  • Connecting with workplaces and alumni in your field
  • Academic skill development for second-year courses
    Off-campus field trips
  • Social opportunities with faculty members

Why Join a Second-Year Learning Community?

SLCs provide the opportunity for you to:

  • Build a strong academic and social network
  • Benefit from the knowledge and support of peer mentors, faculty and staff advisors
  • Engage in learning opportunities outside of the classroom and experience Toronto
  • Learn from expert panels in your field
  • Explore future career and graduate school options
  • Develop competencies around intercultural communication and collaborative learning

Join the EEB SLC

Testimonials 

Check out this article on U of T News to hear about what students have to say about the program!

“My greatest area of learning in this program has been learning from my mentee. I went into the program thinking that the mentor would mostly be “helping” the mentee. However, I found the meetings were informative for both myself and the mentee. I would approach a future mentorship/relationship with this in mind.”

– Mentor

“I learned that what is most useful in a mentor-mentee relationship is simply telling stories and sharing life experiences. This sharing of stories also helped build friendship and trust between me and my mentee.”

– Mentor

“I learned that EEB is a very useful and flexible program that can be applied to a lot of different opportunities and life skills! While my mentor and I have very different ideas in mind of how we will use our EEB education, we were able to connect on so many points and it was cool to see how EEB can be so applicable to a wide variety of careers.”

– Mentee

I am so grateful for all the advice and peer support I gained from the EEB SLC program. The mentors made my second-year much more approachable through open conversation about their experiences and also fun activities. Due to the mentors’ and my fellow mentees’ support, I gained the confidence to apply and achieve a summer research position! I also learned so much more about the vast web of opportunities and courses the EEB program provides. For anyone considering joining, there is so much to gain from this community!

– Mentee

“The best part of the EEB SLC program is that we got to explore diverse options of future careers for EEB students, make proper plan for my undergrad, and learn strategies to find various opportunities within the department. I have applied what I learned to find research opportunities and choose what I want to pursue in the future. It is also a valuable chance to have fun (i.e., playing games, decorating plant pots, visiting the growth facilities) while building a network of my EEB peers! I would highly recommend it to friends.”

– Mentee

“I think the most important thing I learned with the program was to think strategically about my undergrad (i.e courses, work-study, volunteering) and how I want them to help me in the future. I’ve applied this learning for choosing what I want to pursue in the summer as well as research opportunities.”

– Mentee

Being in the EEB SLC this past year was a fantastic opportunity to meet other EEB students. It was so helpful being able to hear about and better understand course selection, research opportunities, internships and many other EEB-related opportunities. Getting recommendations from our mentors, as well as, meeting and hearing from other current and graduated EEB students was both useful and reassuring that I’m on the right path..”

– Mentee