Written by Jacqueline (she/her), student
Simply put, a Living Learning Community (LLC) brings together first-year students from the same program or faculty to live together in residence and benefit from extra programming.
If a Living Learning Community is available for your program and you opt to live there, most of the people around will be in the same program or faculty as you. There are several benefits to this, so if you’re interested, read on for a list of all the perks.
Meet people in your program
I lived in the Faculty of Environment LLC at United College in first year and absolutely loved it. I always had other students from my classes in residence with me to ask questions about assignments or while studying for quizzes. It was an awesome way to meet other students in my faculty — and I knew many other students before classes even started.
One of my friends who was in the School of Public Health Sciences Living Learning Community had her mentor organize study sessions and de-stress events, which gave them a lot of well-rounded support and comfort.
Study buddies
Because you’re in the same program or faculty, taking the same classes, and living near one another, a lot of people in LLCs end up being assignment partners or study buddies. In my first year, my floor would do our statistics assignments together. Or if you needed help, you would just go out in the hallway and knock on anyone’s door. If we had any questions or needed help, there was always someone around to bring forward a different perspective.
Mentors with advice
Generally, students in a Living Learning Community have access to an upper-year student mentor called a peer leader. Your peer leader is a great resource if you have questions about your program, classes, professors, and so much more. Even if you have questions that aren’t related to academics, they’re the ones to go to because not long ago, they were in your shoes!
It’s so much easier to make friends while living in residence and I have both my don and my Living Learning Community leader to count on for academic and residence support.
A bunch of cool events
Speaking of mentors, they also organize events for their groups of students. My mentor organized a résumé-critique event, in which everyone got to have their résumés reviewed and eat free pizza, too! One of my friends who was in the School of Public Health Sciences Living Learning Community had her mentor organize study sessions and de-stress events before midterms, which gave them a lot of well-rounded support and comfort.
Easy access to tutoring
Residences offer tutoring services that are free and available for all Waterloo students, but services may not be available in the specific residence where you live. However, when living in an LLC, you know that academic support is right where you are.
I am currently a residence life don in a Living Learning Community. My students never have to worry about it being too cold or rainy outside because tutoring is right in our residence. I recommend studying in the same room as tutoring, since there are people around to help you!
I really valued living in a Living Learning Community. It provided resources not just academically but socially as well — plus you can always meet people outside of your program.
Learn more about the different Living Learning Communities at Waterloo →
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