Pre-orientation programs can take on a whole variety of activities. Backpacking, climbing, boating, and community service, to name a few. Kicking off your college career in this way is a monumental experience that will set the tone for the beginning of your freshman year. While there are infinite reasons to go on your school’s trip if they offer one, here are four reasons that attending one of these trips could change your life.

1. Meet New People

Everyone is nervous about starting college. Unless you’re going to a local school, you’re going to meet more new people than you’ve ever met in your life. And out of all those people, you have to find friends. Pre-orientation programs enable you to meet people in a smaller setting and allow you to get to know a couple people really well. At the very least it’ll give you friends to hang out with for the first week; and at the most, you could end up with friendships that last a lifetime.

2. Explore the Area

Going somewhere new is always exciting, but figuring out where to explore is hard. If you have no knowledge of the area or are moving to a completely new place, trying to explore on your own can be dangerous. A pre-orientation program will take you out into the wilderness near your school and provide you with a foundation of knowledge for the future. You’ll learn how to travel and camp safely in your new home. You will also gain a better understanding of the area so you can start to plan adventures on your own.

3. The Leaders

Upperclassmen can be scary. They are years older than you and have much more experience at the whole college thing. Having an upperclassman leader on a pre-orientation trip will provide you with at least one older person that you know. You can ask for advice on food, places to go, and practically anything else. Also, if you’re lucky, they will take your group back to their house and feed you, which is a blessing after eating cafeteria food seven days a week. But honestly, your pre-orientation leaders will be some of the coolest people out there, and can be awesome friends.

4. Get Out of your Comfort Zone

Nothing brings people together like shared misery, right? On my pre-orientation program, we had below-freezing temperatures and copious amounts of rain. This resulted in huddling together for warmth and sticking eight people in a three person tent to play cards while it was pouring. One great thing about this kind of trip is that is shatters barriers so quickly you kind of forget that they were even there in the first place. If you have never done whatever your trip offers before, you are already stepping out of your comfort zone by just coming on the trip. Out of your comfort zone, your barriers are down, which allows real friendship to form in a matter of days. Things you’ve never talked about with your friends from home will quickly become commonplace and you’ll wonder how these bonds formed so quickly.

Going on a pre-orientation trip may be scary, or it may be exciting. All I can say is no matter what you feel about them, they will change your college experience in ways that other people just won’t understand.