My most recent adventure at Vanderbilt marks the third college I’ve visited at the request of a friend. The fact that I genuinely flew out to the South for three days has me questioning my sanity, but the weekend in Tennessee has been the perfect way to prepare myself for the upcoming hell week that finals are going to be. There’s no better way to de-stress and forget about the fact that you have an eight-page essay due on the first day back to school than to make the hellish trip to see how college has been treating your favorite people. These trips border on the surreal and that’s one of the best things about visiting your friend at college.

1. It’s a short escape from real life stress.

It’s the best way to get away from the constant patter of assignments and the consequences of interacting with people you see on a daily basis. The things you do while you’re away visiting your best friend bear no effect on your actual life, so go wild.

2. You get a personal tour of campus.

Sure, you’ve already settled down at your school, but it’s still super cool to see how other schools let loose, go out to eat and where they’ve marked their favorite study spots.

3. You get to meet a ton of really cool people.

Even though you’re only down there for the weekend, visiting a friend at college affords you the opportunity to talk to people who you would never have met otherwise. Suddenly, you’ve bonded with your friend’s best friend over your love of the same TV shows and spent a half hour in intense conversion with their lab partner over gender dynamics.

4. You will have to call out of work.

There's no better excuse to cancel all your shifts than the fact that you'll be at least a few states away all weekend. The joy of requesting off is going to have to be enough considering whether this is really a push to see your friend or just a ploy to avoid working the entire weekend.

5. You get to see some of your favorite people a lot sooner.

The space between spring and summer break is just too long to have to wait to see your best friend, so naturally dragging your butt down to see them midway is the only option. The worst thing about freshman year is how empty spots in your life feel in absence of the people you’ve spent so many years confiding in and laughing with. Getting to visit your friends gives you the chance to feel that nostalgia just a bit less.