Adventure WV is a program that provides students with experiential education, leadership experience and personal development through travel programs.

For Adventure WV Program Manager Marcedes Minana, the program provides college students with something priceless.

"We foster belongingness, and that is huge," she said. "We really are a family."

Originally a freshman orientation program, Adventure WV since expanded and now offers everything from week-long local trips to month-long study-abroad programs.

Incoming freshmen have the opportunity to take an orientation trip: a week-long camping excursion throughout West Virginia. The trip is linked with a course, and major-specific trips are offered for students in the School of Journalism and the College of Business and Economics.

But according to Minana, these trips arent just about traveling they help students grow.

"Its about learning about the University, learning about this state, because this is your home," she said. "This is your back yard."

Minana said sometimes, incoming freshmen have no friends or mentors at WVU.

"For most incoming students, one of the biggest concerns coming into college is am I going to make friends? Am I going to fit in?" she said.

The Orientation Trips bring these students together and help them connect, Minana said.

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Adventure WV fosters inclusiveness