First years have a lot of options for courses at U of T, and the Margaret McMillan Trinity One program is one of the options available, alongside the various First Year Seminars available for students. This past year, I was able to join the first year of the Environment and Sustainability Stream of Trinity One, and wanted to share my experience with incoming first years.
What is the Trinity One program?
Trinity One is a two FCE program that usually consists of two courses, that is split into 6 different streams. Each stream is unique and has it's own readings and professors, but what the streams have in common is the class small size. Enrolment is limited and competitive, to ensure that all students have the necessary speaking and writing skills needed to make the most of their stream. Trinity One's courses can sometimes fulfill prerequisites for other U of T courses.
What is my Experience with Trinity One?
Trinity One has become my favourite course that I took in first year, as the small class allowed me to make close friends with my classmates and get to know the professors. We also went on many informative field trips as part of the Sustainability Stream, such as visiting the Koffler Research Centre to research amphibian and marine life, the Trinity Urban Rooftop Beehives, The New Farm, as well as the many guest speakers we had to speak on issues pertaining to climate change, microplastics, and indigenous land rights.
Would I recommend this program?
Definitely! If you're keen on environmental change and support the green movement, or would like to learn more about environmental science issues, this is the perfect elective. The small class and getting able to chat personally with your profs at office hours is reminiscent of upper year seminars and is great to experience among the huge con hall classes of first year.
What about other One programs? How can I join one?
Many colleges offer their own One Programs, that draw from many different disciplines such as the arts, the life sciences, ethics and global interactions, and the social sciences. Applications start soon in the Spring for Fall 2019 entry. For more information on One Programs, visit https://www.future.utoronto.ca/academics/first-year-foundations-one-programs.
Cool! I did UC One in first year in which we literally walked around downtown for the majority of the classes because the ‘city was our classroom’. Definitely second Joanna’s recommendation to take part in a Ones Program!
Did you find this program to be a lot of extra work? I’m looking to apply to it for the fall but have heard that Trin One programs can be an almost unmanageable amount of hard, extra work (but since this program is so new, I haven’t heard much about the stream specifically).