Tufts Blogs

As a support staff member for Tufts Wilderness Orientation (TWO) this past year, I want to share my experience with the best Pre-Orientation program: TWO.

First, a bit on how Pre-Orientation works at Tufts. On top of the mandatory Undergraduate Orientation, every incoming student can opt into a Pre-Orientation program. It runs about a week before Undergraduate Orientation, so you get to move in early if you sign up. Tufts has eight of these programs, but you don't pick one outright. Instead, you rank your top choices, Tufts tells you which one you got, and you decide whether to accept.

Luckily for me, I ranked Tufts Wilderness Orientation (TWO) as my number one choice, and I was thrilled when I got it. After accepting, I filled out a quick form to rank the trips I wanted to do and the difficulty level. There are six types of trips: Backpacking, Canoeing, Hybrid (Backpacking and Canoeing), Trail-Based Service, Camping, and Site-Based Service. I put Hybrid first and was pleasantly surprised to get it.

One thing I love about TWO is that it welcomes all levels of experience. I honestly didn't have much of a hiking or camping background, and I'd never done an overnight backpacking trip before, but TWO made it feel doable. What helped even more was the gear. Backpacking gear gets expensive, but the program let me borrow some, which was so nice.

After getting an email from my trip leaders, I waited for move-in day. When it came, I checked in to pick up my borrowed gear and met my leaders for the first time. They helped me pack and were so welcoming. That evening our whole group met, all of us a little nervous, and we did TWO-wide activities and icebreakers that turned out to be really fun. I went to bed with a mix of excitement and nerves, but ready to leave in the morning.

The bus ride was long, about seven hours, but the icebreakers along the way made it feel somewhat shorter. I won't go into every detail, but I had a great time. It was rough at points, especially the elevation we hiked the first two days, but doing it together made it quite the bonding experience. Hiking was tiring, so we assumed canoeing would be easier, until the wind proved us wrong. On the last day, though, there was barely any wind and canoeing was a blast. We rode back to campus tired but proud. We returned on move-in day for everyone who skipped Pre-Orientation, so campus was buzzing. That night TWO held a dinner and roll call where each group performed something, and that wrapped up my time with the program. My leaders were awesome and so were my group members. I don’t always see them now, but I couldn't have done it without them.

So, if you're ever unsure about doing a Pre-Orientation program, my advice is to go for it. Even if you don't get your top choice, the community you get out of it is priceless. You don't have to do TWO like me either. I've heard only great things about the other programs, so don't be afraid to just do it.