Community Immersion Orientation Trips

The Community Immersion Orientation Trips are intensive four-day experiences spent confronting social, economic, and environmental issues, while also celebrating what makes Maine communities vibrant and unique.

Overview

Community Immersion Orientation Trips, along with orientation trips organized by the Bowdoin Outing Club, provide first-year students with an introduction to the Bowdoin community that challenges them and engages them in existing and emerging areas of interest. The experience includes daily service projects, field trips to sites of interest, discussions with staff from area non-profits, nightly reflective discussions, and social activities that support local businesses. Students build life-long friendships while fostering a commitment to service that will hopefully last their stay at Bowdoin and beyond.

Student Leadership

Many students who have taken part in the Community Immersion Orientation Trips program often go on to become Orientation Trip leaders and help first-year students begin to navigate college life and the local community. Whether it is organizing service projects, leading discussions about important community issues, modeling responsible community engagement, or making first-years feel more comfortable by leading fun ice-breakers, these leaders devote four days to making new students feel at home once they arrive at Bowdoin.

McKeen Center Trip Experiences

2023 Community Immersion Orientation Trips

Bath Community
Carpenter’s Boat Shop
Greater Brunswick Community
Harpswell Community
Portland Community
Lewiston Community
Augusta Community
Houlton Community
Presque Isle Community
Western Foothills Community
North Haven Community
Stonington Community
Vinalhaven Community
Lubec Community
Milbridge Community

For the full list and descriptions of Orientation trips, organized both by the Outing Club and the McKeen Center, please visit this page.