Staying oriented in VFR
Many of the features marked on your sectional chart are there precisely because they're things a VFR pilot should be able to see from the air and use as landmarks for navigation using "pilotage".

If you're preparing for a cross-country trip, you start with a straight line from origin to destination than then adjust it slightly so that it passes over these features as checkpoints every 10-15nm, and you'd put each of those points in your nav log as your flight path.  Then you do the additional calculations (wind, time, etc.) to turn that into something you could, if necessary, follow via "dead reckoning".

Even if you don't have GPS, you may have a VOR receiver (or ADF, if in a really old plane) that could be used as well.  DPEs here require that you be able to use VORs to fix your location on a PPL checkride; I don't know if that's everywhere, but IMHO it's a good idea regardless.

If all else fails, or any time you are in immediate danger, you can always call ATC and ask for help.  But until you've had the training on all the above options and demonstrated reasonable competency with them, your instructor shouldn't be allowing you to get yourself into such situations.