Starting your own company right out of college is not for everyone. It requires the willingness to gain experience in many different areas of business (marketing, law, finance, product development, and others), a supreme passion for what you are building, the resolve to keep on trying in the face of monstrous challenges, and the acceptance of the very real possibility that your endeavor will fail. On the flip side, it provides a unique learning experience, the opportunity to work with a tight-knit team of rock stars, and the potential to change the world.

If you’re fortunate enough to still be a student, here are 5 reasons why you should strongly consider jumping right in:

5. Quickly discover if entrepreneurship is for you.
The easiest way to discover if startups are for you, or not, is to try it out while you still have flexibility. Put together a small team of friends on campus and start working on something. Learn how to pitch it. Talk to potential customers. Squeeze meetings in between classes and work in between homework. If you can balance the load and still have fun doing it, that’s a great sign!

4. You have credibility.
As a student, you have the opportunity to reach out to anyone and everyone to try to learn from them. Ask for a phone call, or even a meeting. You’ll be surprised how often the answer is “Yes”. Use this opportunity to understand as much as you can about your target market and the competitive products. What works for people and what doesn’t?

This credibility can also extend to talks with investors who often hope of finding the next Google or Facebook in the form of a young, passionate, entrepreneur.

3. Fantastic resources.
Your college or university can likely offer quite a bit of support when it comes to starting a company. Talk to professors who have done it before. Use the school’s library for further research into the field. Get involved with business and startup-related student groups. All of these resources will disappear once you leave campus.

2. The best people in the world are right there.
Look around you. When seeking out specific skill sets as you form a project team, reach out to friends across campus. By recruiting in a known environment, you remove a lot of the uncertainties around teammates, and it’s quite likely that you’ll be able to find the person with the right background at your school.

1. You have nothing to lose!
The most important thing to consider when choosing what to do upon leaving school is to remember that you’ll never be in this situation again. You don’t have a family to support or a daily routine to maintain, so why not take the chance and try to build something meaningful? What is the worst that could happen? If the enterprise does not work, you’ve gained substantial experience in the process that you can take with you to your next job.

In short, seriously consider jumping into the startup world as you leave campus. You might just discover The Next Big Thing!

Silicon Valley is unique in many ways and circumstances might be different depending on the climate and culture you live in. With luck, however, the core message is still relevant.

(And if you’re still on the fence, think about joining one of the many startups already out there. What better way to join a passionate team and make a difference?)