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MARQUETTE -- It just felt like a day of college.  Coffee flowed, classrooms were full, colleagues were a-plenty.  One-hundred-sixty high schoolers from across the Upper Peninsula got the full collegiate experience Friday at Camp College, put on by the Michigan Association for Collegiate Admission Counseling.

"We want them to know that college is an option, and we want them to be more informed about the college process," says Hillary Teague, event organizer and Admissions Counselor at Kalamazoo College.

Camp College reaches out to what organizers call "under-represented students."

"There's a whole bunch of definitions. So, first generation to college, minority students, low socioeconomic status," Teague explains.

Breakout sessions introduced the high schoolers to the options of college:  big school versus small school, what sports are offered.  They even got to face a panel of college students to ask the, shall we say, less educational questions.

NMU's own President Les Wong was the event's keynoter.  He told the high schoolers that college is more than just job training.  It's an opportunity to personally grow and develop.  He doesn't even care if they pick Northern.

"It doesn't matter where they go.  I hope they all come to Northern, but you know Michigan is blessed with 15 wonderful public universities, a host of private universities, and the opportunities for them are really quite astounding," says Dr. Wong.

They know the opportunities, they've learned the lifestyle, they've even talked to admissions counselors; now they know exactly what they want to be when they grow up.

"I'm actually pretty undecided, but I've been thinking about veterinary medicine.  Northern is definitely an option for me.  I'm not deciding; I'm not making a decision right now, but it's definitely an option," says Krista VanDamme, a Mid Peninsula high schooler.

"I'm not really sure.  I just want to find something that I really like and enjoy and make a lot of money," says Kelsie Nummilien, also of Mid Peninsula.

Counselors contend that college is the way to go.